The Ancient Coven
by L.M. Frick
Summary: After Kraven's betrayal, Lucian lay dying as liquefied silver seeped through his body. Saved by a creature thought to be of legends, he must now travel north as a darkness threatens not only his world, but the mortal realm as well. Contains adult themes.
1. The Hunted

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Underworld. Duh.

**AN: ** This story (sans-prologue) takes place overlapping the end of the first movie and may contain a few mentions of occurrences in the second movie. As it is a fanfic, I reserve the right to alter any occurrence as to make it fit. Be aware: Anything dealing with the Gates and such characters not involved in the actual Underworld movies are considered mine. That said, it's quite obvious that Vlad Tepes is not mine but the way I portray him is. Deal. And if you don't know who Vlad Tepes is, dear God google it! You should know if you're reading vampire fics! I chose to write this because I see very little dealing with our favorite Lycan Alpha and it's been bugging me.

**Prologue**

Much has been written about the war between the two sects of immortal creatures to grace the Earth. Most of it had been hidden away in books guarded by the night-dwelling vampires but a few tombs still remained in the hands of other, non-immortal beings. It was through these histories that two other sects formed.

The first, the Slayers, were the most known in cult circles. Vampire killers, they stalked the night to deal death to the aristocratic blood-suckers. They relied on relics, symbols, and the often useful wooden implement to do their tasks. Lines claiming descent from Van Hellsing bred generation after generation of Slayers who took upon themselves the task of eliminating vampires from the world they knew.

It is the second sect, however, that this story concerns. Relatively unknown by the normal class and most feared by the lycans were the Hunters. A group of militaristic, blood-thirsty werewolf-slayers, the Hunters chose silver and skill to combat their prey. Unlike their night-time counterparts, their histories indicate descent from a powerful clan of magicians; more so than the common day wiccan. In the more pure lines, the powers were still retained, and no line more so than that of the Gates.

It was a day of celebration for the lycans when word that the last pure line of the Gates lay dying in a hospital in America. Lycans around the world demanded proof of her obituary from their American cousins and, once it had been shown that the Gates had indeed been declared dead, it felt as though another victory had been won. It was one less thing to worry about with so many vampires breathing down their necks.

Raze of the Pack of Lucian was the first to hear of the news in his clan. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he received the newspaper clipping from their contacts across the ocean. Lina had been trying to kill him for the last three years, coming close a number of times. Lucian, too, seemed glad to hear that the last of the pure Hunters was no more. Although he did not fear the young woman who seemed intent on destroying his lieutenant, he did not like the idea of losing a good soldier to an obsessive teenager. He had even gone as far as to stop sending Raze across the ocean for correspondence to keep the Gates from pursuing her damnable intent.

With that threat out of the picture, Lucian moved his concentration back to his plan to create the perfect blending of species. Fruitless though his searching had been, he knew the answer to their problem was out there somewhere. The closer they came to finding the solution, the closer Lucian felt he was coming to resurfacing. He had been lying low for far too long and was getting a little bit claustrophobic of his continual isolation from the outside world. He had to be careful not to be seen by those damnable vampires or else all his planning and all the plotting he and Kraven had done would be for naught. Too bad they had to wait another forty years before Amelia returned to pass her reign to Marcus. At least that meant he had forty years to figure out how to merge the species lines…

**Chapter One: The Hunted**

When the foreigner demanded to accompany the Death Dealers, no one argued. She had even confronted Viktor to make her wishes known. Forcibly reminding them that she had come from Amelia's coven with the emissary in the first place and wanted blood-vengeance had been enough to convince them that she meant business. Plus, she was a soldier and would be useful.

Upon arrival at the underground lair, the Death Dealers quickly broke through the Lycan defenses and noted the foreign Death Dealer was more than capable of holding her own. So when she separated herself from their midst, they thought little of her motives. She had obviously been strong enough to be sent as protection of the emissary, she could manage on her own. They had more important things to worry about than where she had gone, anyway.

She broke away as soon as she could from the main group, knowing that sticking with them would bring far too much attention to herself. She had more pressing issues than slaughtering a bunch of dogs. As soon as she could find a dark recess to meld into, the woman reached up to her eyes and, with deft motions, plucked the blue contact lenses from their places. She rubbed her eyelids with the back of her hands for a moment after tossing the little plastic disks off to one side. She hated wearing those damn things, they itched terribly. She had found, however, that her natural red irises brought a lot more questions than necessary. All these newer vampire lines had long since bred out the red and she wasn't really interested in letting them in on who she really was with such an identifying color. Plus, she reflected as she gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the black around her, she saw a lot better without the contacts in. She would need all her senses at full if she were to make it through this labyrinth without being seen by the lycans.

Leaning against the damp stones behind her, the woman reached into the inner pockets of her trench coat, pulling out a pair of gloves. The fingers had been removed and etched into the back and palms of the thick leather were pentagrams surrounded by scrawling symbols that few anymore knew the true meaning of. It was lucky she did or she wouldn't have been able to use them. Double checking that the rest of her gear was in place, she flexed her fingers and stepped out from her dark niche. She had searching to do.

Bringing her right fist up so that her palm faced toward the ground, the woman half closed her eyes and murmured a few words that, to any normal person, would have sounded like tongues. The brief incantation caused the pentagram on the back of her hand to flair a bright red before fading to nothing. Opening her eyes fully, she took stock of her surroundings and, sensing the direction her brief spell indicated, she took off down the hall at a quick run.

* * *

The pain of it was unbearable but somehow he managed to drag himself forward, nails digging into the concrete floor as, inch by agonizing inch, he moved toward Michael and Selene. Kraven, unfortunately, had impeccable timing, cutting him off before he could make it far enough to be seen or heard by the pair. He really should have killed that man a long time ago. Although not in any position to do the type of damage needed to end the life of the cowardly vampire, Lucian did not hesitate the moment he was within reach to spear Kraven through the calf, buying a precious few moments of time to relay his message to Selene.

As expected, Kraven wasn't thrilled to see that Lucian had survived the first attack and threw him to one side. A few more bullets hammered into the lycan's body, but his task was done. He smiled darkly at the vampire, laughed one harsh, gurgling laugh, then let his eyes slip closed as the silver seeped slowly into his blood stream.

Death was a very odd sensation after being alive for too many years to count. He could see nothing and feel nothing, but he could hear noises and voices as clearly as if they stood next to him. Most of what he heard was Viktor's voice and, if he were alive to do so, would have snarled at the sound of it. Perhaps this was his personal Hell, damned to an eternity of listening to that terrible voice without being able to see or feel anything else. It was not a comforting thought.

* * *

She frowned, pausing in her run so quickly that she skidded forward a few feet on her thick boots. She held her glove up again and repeated the original command. This time, there was no reaction. Taking a deep breath, she uttered the words once more but still nothing happened. That was not a good sign. His life force was too weak to register on the lay lines. She switched commands and, after the brief flair, changed directions slightly and took a dark, wet path down a crumbling corridor. She ran like her own life depended on it until the sounds of snarling and screaming met her ears. With hardly a pause in her momentum, she turned sharply to her right and pounded down the hall.

Breaking out of the passage into a room that smelled strongly of sewage, the woman took the scene before her in with a glance before pulling a large, silver gun from her leg-holster and opening fire. The three shots landed true and, much to the confusion of the lycan being battled, the vampires surrounding him dropped to the ground with agonized screams. It took mere moments before their bodies decomposed to dust and the woman re-holstered her gun.

"Now," she spoke softly, eyes turning to the monstrous beast that had come to its senses and launched itself toward her. With a quick motion, she brought her left hand up and made a rapid gesture. The pentagram on her palm flared and the werewolf stopped mid-leap, landing on the ground with a solid thud. Fisting her hand tightly, she brought it up as if lifting something really heavy and watched, pleased, as the lycan was righted and set on his feet. She really would have to thank her mother for these gloves when she returned home.

"This won't do for communication at all," she murmured to the beast, raising her other hand. The wolf snarled at her and tried to violently wrench itself from the invisible grip on its body. The free hand moved in a complicated pattern and, with a howl of surprise, the body of the lycan contorted and, with the sickening crunch of bones, melted into its human form. "Ah, much better." The woman looked up at the massive dark man she held in her force-grip. He was almost as big as a man as he was as a wolf.

His deep voice, a mixture of gravel and rust, spat across the distance at her as his hands twitched as if imaging he had her in his grasp and not visa versa. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. It seemed somewhat weak to say but he couldn't seem to think of anything else worthwhile.

"Someone you should not be attacking, obviously. Take me to Lucian." She shook her fist a bit and watched as his body was rattled around.

"Too late," he ground out. "He's dead."

The woman seemed to contemplate that a moment before raising the right hand and repeating her locator spell along with a few other words. The design throbbed dully.

"Not quite," she replied grimly. "But if you don't hurry up and tell me where he is, he will be."

"Never," came the gruff reply to which he was shook roughly again.

"Listen you stubborn mutt," the woman snapped, dragging him around to slam him back against the wall. "I'm not your enemy here. Either you'll lead me to him of your own will, or I will _make_ you take me there. I assure you the second option is far less pleasant than the first."

"If you were not my enemy," he gasped roughly, still struggling against the bonds, "You would not treat me as if I were."

"Make you it is," she replied instead and her right hand came up again, fingers twisting in the air as she drew a pentagram between them. A light red trail lingered for a moment wherever her fingers passed until the design was etched into the empty space before her face. With a slight forward push, she sent the star-shaped seal speeding toward the lycan.

With a flash, it burned itself into his arm, bringing a hiss from his lips. Then he dropped to his feet as she released her left hand. Walking directly up to him, the female tilted her head back and placed her hands on her hips. "Lucian. Now."

The lycan's limbs moved of their own accord as he slowly turned and followed the wall to another hallway. The woman, close on his heels, smiled triumphantly as his body refused to obey him and led her to where she wanted to go. It was spells of this power she owed her father's education and she made another mental note to thank him for his contributions to her abilities.

One dank hallway turned into another and, as they walked, she kept her ears tuned to their surroundings. The further they moved, the more distance the sounds of fighting became until she could hear them no more. She suspected that they had moved far enough away from the fighting that the danger of them being seen was over.

They reached a flight of cement stairs that the lycan took without hesitation. They led, it proved, to a series of dirty laboratories with bad fluorescent lighting. At the sight of the equipment and conditions, the woman felt a pang of pity for the lycans having to work in these sorts of facilities. They really had been driven into a dire underworld.

The werewolf under her command stopped when he reached an area of the floor near a hole in the wall. A mixture of blood and silver smeared along the floor but there was no body. He frowned and raised a hand to point at it.

"That is where I saw him last. He was dead."

The woman moved to stand next to him, looking down at the mess with a frown. Kneeling, she ran a finger over the smear and raised it to her face. Looking around, she spotted another smear not too far away and walked to it. Running a second finger through it, she compared it to the first, sniffing lightly. "Same," she murmured. Tracing the room quickly, she found a light train of smears leading away from where they stood toward a far opening covered by loose plastic flaps. Beckoning for the lycan to follow her, she slipped through the doorway into another similarly lit room. More blood smeared the floor but she could smell already that it differed. Vampire blood and something else.

Looking briefly around, she noted what appeared to be a fairly new hole in the far wall overlooking a very watery atrium. Moving to the opening, she gazed out of it. Apart from a body in the water, there was no one to be seen. She would examine that later, though. It was obvious from here that the body belonged to a vampire and her target was in no way a night-walker.

"Woman." The grating voice brought her attention back around to the large lycan standing behind her. He was hovering over something half hidden in the corner on top of a pile of debris. Coming closer, she groaned. Lucian.

He laid silently, eyes closed and body unmoving. A number of bullet holes riddled his body and a few trails of silver sheen traced down his shirt. There was no rise to his chest but as she knelt to check his pulse, there was a faint flutter there. He was alive, although only barely. She cursed then, punching her fist into the wall behind Lucian's head. This was not going well.

Gloves up, she muttered a few words under her breath and watched as Lucian's body throbbed a very pale white before fading. Pursing her lips, the woman stood from her crouch, reaching down to Lucian and, with a heave, hauled the body over her shoulder.

"What are you doing?" the commanded lycan demanded harshly. He may have lost control over his body but she hadn't blocked his ability to speak.

"He's not dead yet," the vampire replied through gritted teeth. "Almost. Most of his body had shut down but his brain is still there. If I can..." her voice faded off as she moved into the next room. "Come here." Like an obedient robot, the lycan followed without resistance. If he ever got free, he would teach her the meaning of humiliation.

She had dropped Lucian onto one of the exam tables and was standing over him with a severe expression on her face. She seemed to be thinking over her next move.

The woman had a definite problem. He was basically dead and she had been sent with the specific purpose of retrieving him. She wasn't about to return empty handed and she really didn't want to return with his body. Without him alive, he was damnably useless.

"Well, you're not dead," she murmured to the body, staring at the bullet holes as if they were the most intriguing thing ever. "But you may as well be. Your body can't survive with this silver in it and Viktor's damn ingenious coven has found a good way to keep that silver in you." She brought her hands to her face and ran fingers through her inky hair. "What am I going to do with you?" she whispered down at the dying werewolf. "They didn't prepare me for this."

The lycan could feel her grip starting to loosen from his body. Her concentration was obviously elsewhere. Straining against the bonds holding his body, he swore he could feel it slip a bit. A little longer perhaps and he'd have the freedom he craved.

Closing her eyes, the woman ran her hands from her hair across her face. She had a horrible feeling about what she was about to do but knew it was just about her only chance at ever saving him. "Lycan. Bring me a bucket."

Although the control wasn't as strong, the lycan still felt himself moving away from the room in search of what she wanted. His body forced him to paw through piles of supplies and equipment, throwing things to the side until he'd unearthed what she had wanted. The noise of it hadn't gone unnoticed. Lycans that had somehow managed to survive the invasion started appearing from the stairwell. Two had just entered to see their comrade shuffling through junk.

"Raze? What the hell are you doing?"

Raze looked up from the bucket he'd just picked up and grimaced at his fellow wolf. "Dubas." He started walking back toward the room Lucian lay in. "Can't control my body," he growled before disappearing into the exam room.

Dubas and the other followed, frowning. "What?" Dubas' eyes met the form of the vampress and growled. "Get away from him!"

The woman looked up as the new lycans moved toward her. Her hand flew upward and moved in a wide sweep. "Restrain them!" she barked at Raze. Without looking to see that it was done, she returned her gaze to Lucian's body. The seals she had been drawing had faded, half complete and useless. Cursing, she started over. "If any of you dare interrupt this again, I will kill you," she snarled without looking up from her task. "I don't have much time before he dies and I'm not about to let that happen."

A flash of red signaled the completion of her seals. Turning toward Raze, who held both lycans up against a wall, she nodded. "Good boy." She snagged the bucket he had dropped in the process and proceeded to ignore them, carrying it back to Lucian's side. She set it on the exam table near his hip and took a deep breath. This was going to take a lot of energy.

She ignored the gurgle from the struggling werewolves and the half grunted apologies Raze responded with as he tried to explain that he couldn't help himself. With the seals floating above her head, she made a quick motion and ripped open the front of Lucian's shirt to expose the bullet holes. She placed her palms over his chest, splaying her fingers to cover as much skin as possible. With half closed eyes, she breathed in and forced herself to concentrate completely on her task.

The pentagrams blazed suddenly and she felt the movement beneath her fingers as she slowly drew the silver through his body. It was spread so thin it was going to take a while to isolate it into a singular location. Digging deep into her power-well, the woman pulled the silver as hard as she could toward one of the holes. She blessed her mother's lineage once more as she worked. The knowledge to command silver was very helpful to those with Hunter-blood.

Raze's arms were lowering. He could feel the last of her grip slipping. At last, after an agonizing moment of muscle spasms, he released his fingers from around the necks of his fellow lycans. Sputtering, they rubbed their tender throats and gathered themselves. Raze turned stiffly toward the woman nearby, still trying to move muscles that had not been under his control for the better part of the last twenty minutes. His forward motion, however, was halted out of a mixture of confusion and caution when he saw what she was actually starting to do.

The silver had progressed as far as she could make it with her current power. She felt the bonds on the werewolf slip and hoped that he had enough sense not to come blundering up and kill her when she was so close. Trying to magically pull the silver from Lucian's body, however, was not working with so much of her reserves used up. This part would have to be manual. Gritting her teeth, the woman looked down at the bullet hole around which she had gathered the deadly liquid. Although it would not harm her as it would them, ingesting it could still make her sick.

Steeling herself for a taste she knew wasn't going to be pleasant, the vampire parted her lips and felt her teeth sharpen and extend. She knew hesitating any longer could cause her grip on the silver to slip as her control had slipped on the lycan behind her so she moved quickly and sunk her teeth into the flesh around the bullet hole. Sucking hard as soon as she felt a spurt of warm liquid, the woman started drawing the silver into her mouth.

Turning to spit it into the bucket, she realized it was a bit too far out of place when half of the silver she had sucked up spilled onto the floor. "You. Grab that," she ordered quickly, jerking her head at the bucket and directing her gaze to Raze. He was frowning slightly and had obviously taken control back. "Do it unless you want this stuff to re-distribute," she snapped when he didn't move.

Curiosity got the better of Raze and, motioning for the other two to remain where they were, stepped forward and snagged the metal bucket from its position. "Good," the woman said with a nod. "Hold it about there and watch your hands." She turned back to her task, latching her mouth onto Lucian's chest.

An eternity seemed to pass while she slowly drew the silver up with her mouth and spit it into the bucket. Raze watched in fascination as, just as slowly, the blueish-purple lines tracing across Lucian's body dissolved back into the pale skin. Perhaps this Vampire was onto something. He could just kill her after she'd finished, anyway. There was no hurry.

The taste had started to change. She sucked harder, bringing up mixtures of silver and blood now. There wasn't much silver to begin with but it was a slow process and she was elated to taste the coppery liquid mixed with the metallic. Her task was almost complete. Soon, all she could taste was the intoxicating substance and pulled back, ignoring the dribble of blood running down her chin and dripping onto Lucian's already bloody chest. Motioning for Raze to put the bucket aside, she surveyed the body beside her and gripped his chest tightly as a wave of nausea washed over her. The extraction took a little too much effort.

Gathering her wits, she blinked away the black dots swarming the corners of her vision and concentrated instead on Lucian's still not-moving body. Pressing fingers to his neck, she felt for the pulse. It was still there, faint. She lowered her ear to his mouth and felt the flutter of breath against the side of her face, but it, too, was weak. Raking her memory banks, the woman tried to remember anything her mother or father had taught her about revitalizing a nearly dead person. Nothing specific came to mind and, as she ran a hand across her forehead, smearing the pale skin with a streak of red, the black dots returned with a vengeance.

A gurgling burp rolled up her throat and a bubble of red escaped her lips as the nausea took a more firm hold on her body. She tightened her grip on the table she leaned on, staring with half-parted lips at the lycan laying still below her. She felt as though she was looking at him from very far away. Another red bubble escaped her lips and, with a desperate lunge toward Raze, she grabbed the bucket and emptied the contents of her stomach into the red and silver swirl in the bottom of the vessel.

Revived for a moment, she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and swayed back to the table, staring intently at Lucian's face. It looked pinker than it had a moment ago. Perhaps his body's natural ability to heal was kicking in now that the majority of the silver had been removed. She checked his pulse again as well as his breathing. It wasn't noticeably better. "Come on, now," she muttered under her breath. A thought occurred to the woman as she watched his face carefully. It was worth a shot. After all, drawing the silver out of him had been an improvisation and so far he was still alive.

Slowly, knowing her energies were running dangerously low, the vampire traced a symbol on the pack leader's chest. It glowed a faint blue as it appeared. It seemed to take forever to place the intricate series of lines and circles across the skin of the man. More than once she had to stop as new waves of nausea returned. When she finished, most of Lucian's chest was covered in the glowing symbols that throbbed slowly and rhythmically, matching the sluggish pace of the man's own heart. Placing her palm over where his heart was situated, she mumbled a word that caused the symbols to flash once then vanish. Her own body throbbed momentarily with the same eerie glow before it, too, faded.

Surveying her handiwork, the woman nodded to herself as though she could see something that the gathered lycans could not but was pleased at what she saw. Perhaps it would work. Only time could tell now. Turning her body slowly around, she leaned her palms on the edge of the exam table behind her and looked at Raze through blurry eyes.

"If you kill me now," she told him, swallowing heavily as the urge to vomit returned with an unforgiving urgency, "he will die as well. Keep that in mind." With a hiccough, more blood dribbled down her chin. She took a step toward the discarded bucket as though to make good use of it but never made the trip. The world around her swirled a violent red then faded to black before she hit the floor.

"Well?" Dubas asked harshly when Raze made no move to crush the woman now unconscious on the floor at their feet. "What are you waiting for?" The smaller werewolf stooped as though to grab the vampire. The dark man halted him with a firm hand and a shake of his massive head.

Instead of dealing a deathblow, Raze bent and hefted the woman up and walked her to a nearby exam table that was occupied by a variety of dirty, rusted instruments. He swept them off and replaced them with her body.

"What the hell, Raze?" Dubas demanded, following closely on the other's heels.

"Leave her be," the dark wolf growled with a tone of command not easily ignored.

"Why?" Dubas glared up at Raze but made no move to touch the vampire. "She's one of them, isn't she? You can't seriously believe that killing her will change this." The smaller man motioned to Lucian's body across the room. There was some murmured agreement from the lycans that had gathered at the door. A few more had arrived during the ordeal but had remained at a respectful distance when they saw Raze make no move to interfere with the vampress' administrations.

"Until Lucian awakens, I am Alpha here," Raze snarled, snagging the front of Dubas' shirt and shoving him backwards. "And if I chose to let her live, then any move toward her is considered mutiny. Do I make myself clear? Unless any of you think you can take me." Those present could not make themselves meet his cold gaze. Even Dubas knew he was no match for the powerful werewolf.

"Now, go search for survivors. I will watch Lucian. If he dies, I will kill the woman. You have my word on that."

* * *

**AN:** That is it for chapter one. I have chapter two completed. It's only a matter of time now for when I post it. So long as I get one review indicating interest, I'll continue. Otherwise, no one really cares and I'll remove the story. Either way, this is mostly for my own amusement. Thanks!


	2. Questions and Answers

**AN: **Here is chapter two of my story. There is a lot of information in this chapter and not a lot of action compared to last chapter. Hopefully it makes sense.

**Teapartygirl: **Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you enjoyed chapter one. I hope you enjoy chapter two as well.

**ThranduilsDaughter: **Thank you for your comments. I have been kicking this story around for a long time. I have no idea why I decided to continue it but I'm happy with where it is going. I'm glad you like it.

**Chapter Two: Questions and Answers**

Death looked a lot like a dingy laboratory and, for a long moment, he felt sorely cheated. Then, as more came into focus, he noticed that it looked a lot like _his_ dingy laboratory. Brow furrowing, he took a quick stock of his own person. Starting at his feet, he noticed that he could feel and move his toes and then became aware of each stretch of body as he worked his way to his face. Everything seemed in order, besides the dull ache centering in his torso.

With a grunt of effort, he sat up and immediately regretted the motion. The throb exploded into a searing pain that traced its way through his extremities in fiery lines. Sitting hunched over his legs, he took a long moment to allow the pain to subside to a manageable level before opening his eyes and looking around. Raze slumbered near the door in his lycan form, obviously acting like a guard dog. Glancing down at the ground, Lucian noticed he sat upon an exam table raised above a bucket. The contents wafted an acrid scent to his nose that was entirely unpleasant. He dismissed it immediately, not wanting to dwell on what exactly that bucket contained.

Continuing his survey of the room, the lycan's eyes fell on the second table and what it contained. His eyebrows shot up with a mix of surprise and curiosity. Now what was this? Moving cautiously so as not to wake his guardian and to gauge his own muscle ability, Lucian slid off the exam table he occupied and, with almost agonizing steps, padded across to the other table.

He was weak and cringed as his body almost rebelled with the movement. Flashes of memory flew through his mind as he recounted why he felt like he had been dragged over broken glass for the better part of a mile. He ran a hand over his chest and felt scar tissue where bullet holes had been. In his current state, it would be a while before the rough skin smoothed out again.

Lucian leaned heavily against the table containing the woman, frowning. He watched her without really seeing her, remembering the liquefied silver-nitrate bullets that had riddled his body. In all accounts, he should be very dead. He certainly didn't feel dead. Blinking back into reality, he took a closer look at the woman, sniffing softly to pick up any scents that might indicate who or what she was.

It was obvious she was a vampire. Any lycan could smell that without trying. In addition to that tell-tale scent, he detected the smell of silver on her as well as his own blood. A streak of the red substance marred her smooth forehead and stained the skin around her mouth and chin. There was silver mixed into the blood by her mouth, as well.

She had a pleasant, heart-shaped face beneath the blood and, although age wasn't really discernable in the immortal races, something told him she wasn't really that old. It wasn't as though he felt she had been turned while young. She just smelled young, as though perhaps she hadn't been a vampire as long as some of the others he had encountered. He had an odd sensation of familiarity when he looked at her that evaded him. He shook it off and continued his scrutiny.

She was pale but that was not unusual for her kind. A slight flush colored her cheeks and her chest rose and fell in a constant rhythm. She was very much alive. Continuing his survey, he noted she was dressed like a Death Dealer but he was certain he had never seen her before in any of the encounters. Plus, she didn't smell like one of Viktor's coven. Nor like Amelia's or Marcus'. That was out of the ordinary for this area. She must be foreign.

What in the world was a foreign Death Dealer doing in his laboratory, alive, and smelling like his own blood? He certainly didn't feel any different, besides being in an unordinary amount of pain. Vampires didn't usually choose to feed upon lycans so that wasn't the cause of the blood on her chin. His mind went back to that bucket filled with the vile something. He turned his head to look at it, a seemingly preposterous idea starting to form in his mind. It was impossible. He moved his gaze back to her and took in the scene once more, trying to make sense of the muddle.

The brown gloves on her hands seemed oddly out of place to the black she was adorned in and they drew his attention. Moving down the table a few inches to get a closer look, Lucian squinted at the enigmatic designs scrawled on them as if scrunching his eyes would cause the symbols to suddenly make sense. Reaching out a tentative finger, he touched the pentagram on the back of the glove and traced the lines lightly. They seemed vaguely familiar, as though he had seen something like them in his past. Where had he seen similar symbols? It eluded him and that annoyed him. His memory was usually quite keen.

Her fingers twitched and Lucian pulled his hand back quickly, glancing at her face. She was still, however, and he looked back at the old, worn leather gloves. Nothing else seemed out of place as he glanced over her again. He felt as though the gloves were terribly important and held the answer to his sudden revival. He returned his attention to them, frowning deeply as their meaning evaded him.

Taking her hand carefully in his fingers, he turned it over to look at the palm of the glove. Her palms were stained with even more of his blood and the symbols were obscured by the dried substance. They seemed identical to the ones on the back of the glove and he turned the hand back over, pondering it with a slightly tilted head.

"As much as you try, you'll never read it."

Lucian's head snapped up to stare into the face of the woman. A very strange feeling came over him as he gazed into eyes the color of fresh blood. Although he didn't show any outward signs, the sight rocked him slightly. The feeling was one of inexplicable fear or panic but it vanished as quickly as it came. The vampires he had known all his life did not have eyes such as hers. A prickle of apprehension ran along the back of his neck at the implications those eyes held. One of the Ancients?

The hand he was still holding shifted and gripped his wrist firmly. With a grunt, she used him to pull herself upright, wincing as her muscles complained from the movement. Once sitting, she released his wrist and proceeded to crack her spine by contorting her torso around into various curvatures. She seemed oddly calm for waking up to a lycan studying her.

Lucian couldn't seem to work his voice while he watched her stretch. He had far too many questions swirling around in his mind to find the right words to express them. It was disconcerting since he was usually quite eloquent. Considering he had basically been dead not long ago, however, it was perfectly normal to have a hard time piecing together the puzzle before him. It would take his body and mind longer to readjust than he was giving it.

"You should be resting," she spoke once she seemed satisfied that her own body was in order. She still felt ill but at least she didn't feel like throwing up. That was a vast improvement. Plus, she was conscious and didn't appear to have any major side effects from using so much energy. She glanced at a watch on her wrist. Twelve hours of blissful unconsciousness was apparently enough to bring her back into the world of the living.

"And you are who to make suggestions of me?" Lucian's voice returned to him as he shifted back to allow her to swing her legs off the table and drop to the ground. She was about his equal in height and matched his jade gaze steadily.

"My name is Aislyn and you owe me your existence. I would say that gives me a lot of stake in making suggestions," she replied evenly. Finally, she looked away to break the stalemate and walked in slow, somewhat shaky steps toward the other table. She patted it with a glove invitingly before moving around it to look down at the bucket. Her lips pulled back in a grimace before bending to lift it and move it to a corner out of the way.

"Aislyn," he muttered in response, testing the unfamiliar name for any clues to its origin. Nothing specific came to mind and he dismissed it as unimportant. "I still don't quite think that-"

"Rest." The woman turned abruptly from the bucket, cutting him off. Raze snorted from the doorway, rolled over, and continued sleeping. She spared the large lycan a glance 

before settling her stare back on Lucian. "You should not be doing much thinking in your state. Leave that to me for the moment. Lie down before you reinjure yourself."

The werewolf bristled at her tone and held his ground, although he left a hand on the table in order to physically steady himself. He knew he was weak but few dared to be so brash with him. "Not until I get some answers," he responded stubbornly. "Like how I happen to be alive would be a good place to start. Unless I am mistaken, this is not death."

She watched him evenly again for a long moment before coming to some degree of decision. "What I have to say to you is best said in private." Her eyes flicked to the sleeping Raze.

"My quarters are not far." Lucian shifted his weight slightly, testing his muscles again. He wasn't entirely sure he could make it there by himself, but it was worth a shot if he got the answers he was looking for. The longer the lycan was awake, the more his normal cognitive ability returned. He did not want to risk falling asleep again with a strange woman hovering over his defenseless body.

"Very well." Aislyn waited while Lucian moved slowly toward the door. Once he had successfully slipped around Raze, she followed in kind.

The journey to Lucian's private living space was a slow and somewhat laborious one for both parties. Although she could only image the pain Lucian was in, Aislyn was too wrapped up in her own aches to pay him much heed until they reached a set of concrete stairs that, under normal circumstances, would not have been so daunting. A few steps up proved almost too much for the both of them and, gingerly, they sat on a step a few feet up from the landing. Lucian was breathing hard and, although she hid it well, the woman was not in any better shape.

"How much further?" the vampress questioned once she had regained her breath.

"Top of these stairs," he wheezed in response. His lungs had apparently not fully healed from the bullets. He mentally cursed his weakened state. If he had been fully capable, his injuries would already be mended. The silver had done its job too well.

"Let's get to it then." Aislyn stood and looked down at the wolf pointedly. When he didn't move, she urged him to stand and start climbing.

"I'm not entirely sure I can," he admitted through gritted teeth.

The first surge of annoyance was quickly replaced with chagrin as Aislyn took a closer look at the leader of the lycans. His skin had a pale, deathly pallor that spoke of the poisoning he had undergone. His breathing was still shallow and raspy. He hid it well, but she could still detect a shaking in his hands when he unclenched them. Her stern look dissolved as she held a hand down to him to help him up.

"Here, then. Lean on me." Without waiting for him to acquiesce, she took hold of his arm and pulled him upright, drawing the appendage over her own shoulders. "We'd best get you to your chambers so you can rest more easily, anyway."

The werewolf shot her a grateful look before turning his eyes to the stairs before him. Although the climb was still arduous, it went more quickly with someone to lean upon. He could tell she was in some degree of pain from the soft grunting she tried to hind under her breath and he wondered what had caused it. She didn't appear injured. It was trivial, however. He had more important questions to be answered.

Arriving at the landing that held the door to Lucian's quarters, the man fumbled in his jacket pocket for a key. The metal keychain attached to it rattled as he attempted to insert the key into the lock on the door. It took a moment of concentration to coordinate himself enough to accomplish it, but finally the key sank into the hole and, with a soft click, he turned the knob and shuffled inside.

Both immortals paused on the threshold of the room, glancing around the dark confines for any sign of occupation. A locked door was not necessarily a sign that no one was within. Satisfied that they were indeed alone, Aislyn released Lucian and closed the door behind them, enveloping the room in blackness.

Although her eyesight was that of the night-dwelling creature, it was difficult to see when there was little natural light. She heard Lucian moving around, however, and hissed slightly when the lights flared to life around her. Blinking back spots, the vampire cringed and allowed her eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness before taking in the humble abode of the werewolf leader.

It was a simple room but it sufficed for Lucian. A four-poster bed hung with green drapery sat snugly in the far right corner, kiddy-corner to where she currently stood. A small, round table sat at its foot with a couple of chairs that looked about as old as the wolf. There was an entirely unremarkable dresser pushed into another corner. An armchair sat next to a book shelf that was crammed full of dusty tombs as well as what looked like a variety of newer novels. A door stood closed in the far wall between the bed and the armchair. Next to the door stood a mini-fridge whose low hum was oddly out of place in the utilitarian-esque room. It was beside this fridge that Lucian stood.

The lycan opened the door and dug around inside for a moment, producing a bottle of water. He tossed it to Aislyn and pulled out a second before shutting the door and sinking with a grateful sigh onto the edge of his bed. Without waiting for instruction, the woman moved to the armchair and sat, screwing the top off the bottle and drinking thirstily. The staring match started again as they both fingered the plastic containers.

"Well?" Aislyn said at last, toying with the cap of her bottle. "You have questions and I think it would be best to get them over with."

"Let us start with the most pressing issue at hand. I should be dead. Yet, here I am, sitting in my chamber with an Ancient." His tone remained carefully neutral and his expression guarded. "Considering how my kind has been hated by yours for centuries, I am curious as to these circumstances."

Lucian was not entirely certain what to expect, but he certainly did not expect her to chuckle at his words. The corners of the woman's mouth turned up in a smirk as she watched his stoic expression falter momentarily before snapping back into place.

"Ancient, am I?" she asked, her voice holding a hint of amusement. "Perhaps but not in the sense I think you mean. We'll get to that later," she continued when he made as if to speak. "One question at a time. Let me see if I can explain why you are very much alive first and we will go from there.

"You were nearly dead when I found you some hours ago. Viktor's coven has definitely outdone themselves with those new bullets. I was not expecting that. My orders were to find you alive so you can image my frustration when I found you almost opposite. I wasn't about to fail my mission and let you die if I could help it. Removing liquid silver, though? It is not something I was taught how to do so I had to improvise." She motioned to her chin where his blood still showed a faint brownish tinge.

"How, exactly, did you do it?" Lucian asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I drew it together and pulled it out," she replied simply, holding up one of her gloved hands so he could see the pentagram. The lycan frowned for a moment as the meaning of the glove danced at the corner of his memory once more. Then, as though a rubber band snapped somewhere inside of him, the werewolf recalled where he had seen similar symbols.

"You're a Hunter." The statement was made without question and Lucian felt the hair on the back of his neck rise of its own volition.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." The woman nodded and took another drink of her water.

"That is not all you are," Lucian continued, trying to make sense of the stranger. "No Hunter in all my years has had the smell and look of a vampire." And what did she mean that it was her mission to find him alive? What she supposed to be the one to kill him? If so, why did she bring him back to the living? Lucian did not like the confusion he currently felt and pressed on for answers. "Tell me everything," he demanded, brows furrowing.

"Not everything I can tell you is pertinent to the current situation. I will tell you whatever you need to know and no more than that," she countered. Was she being purposefully difficult? "Choose your questions carefully, Lucian. You're a smarter dog than that."

The werewolf studied the vampire for a moment before nodding. "My mind is still recovering," he said with an apologetic shake of his head. She merely nodded her understanding and waited for him to continue. "Let us start with why you need me alive and where you come from. You must admit that this is not a typical situation."

She smirked again at his words but agreed. "The easiest part to answer is the where if not the why. I come from a coven located in London. I was sent by my leaders to bring you back with me so that negotiations may be made. We are having some… issues in England that we do not wish to spread to the rest of the world. It concerns both our kinds but not in the way it has here. We are not warring with the lycans but we are not on friendly terms with them, either. My superiors feel as though you might have the best chance of swaying the London packs to our side."

"And what made them think that I would ever agree to such a ludicrous idea?" Lucian interrupted, staring at the woman in disbelief. "Without prior notice or any sort of clue about the situation, your leaders assumed that I would just follow you north and drop everything I have been working for here?" His eyes were incredulous.

"Because," she replied as though he had not cut her off, "You owe one of them your life and I was sent to remind you of that debt. Now, however, you owe me your life so I can make as much claim on you as he can."

A cold, tingling sensation trickled along Lucian's spine at her words. "Who?"

"Nagire," came her simple answer to his simple question. "It may have been six hundred years, but I'm sure you remember him. He certainly remembers you." The red of her eyes caught the green of his and held them fast. The familiarity returned and, as when he realized her Hunter origins, pieces seemed to fall into place rapidly.

"You are related. You have the same caste to your features."

"He is my brother," she affirmed.

"He was no Hunter," Lucian countered. One step forward in his search for answers, two steps back.

"We do not share a mother." Aislyn shifted in her chair. "That is not important, though. What is important is that you swore an oath to come to his aid should he ever call for it. Nagire is calling for it now. Will you foreswear your promise and remain here or will you come with me and do the honorable thing?"

"I can barely walk," Lucian scoffed. "I cannot travel to London in this condition."

"Unless you are blind, and I'm sure you are not that oblivious, I'm in no condition to travel, either. We can wait until we are fit enough. Although this matter does come with some urgency, a few days to recuperate will not change what is happening in my home."

"And what is happening in your home?"

Aislyn sighed deeply and rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "We are being over-run by…" her voice faded as she sought the proper words. "I don't want to say 'fakes' because that is not true. They are as real as you or I. It is more that they are pawns or perhaps fodder. Dolls is the title that seems to have stuck best within the coven." The blank look she received from him showed how unclear she had been and she struggled to find a better way of explaining the problem. "Perhaps I should start from further back than recently and find out how much you know about my kind."

The way she said 'mind kind' gave Lucian the impression that she wasn't talking about Hunters or vampires in the sense of his knowledge about them. He waited for her to continue.

"When you met Nagire, he was the first vampire you knew with red eyes, yes?" When Lucian nodded, Aislyn pressed on. "You called me an Ancient when you saw my eyes. How much do you know about them? What did Nagire tell you?"

Lucian thought quietly for a moment then stood slowly from his bed and moved toward the bookshelf with stiff motions. It was still very difficult to walk without feeling the effects of his near-death experience. Reaching up onto the shelf, he pulled down an old, dusty volume with faint gold letter on the bindings. Standing next to her chair, Lucian brushed off the book before opening it and skimming the contents page for the section he wanted. Flipping a few pages, he stopped at the chapter he wanted and gazed down at it passively.

"There are legends that the vampires themselves denounce as nothing more than fairy tales," he started, running fingers over the page before him before handing it to Aislyn. "You read Latin?" he asked as she looked at the book. She nodded absently and skimmed the page while he continued. "The legends speak of a race before the vampires known as the Ancients. According to the books, they are the first true vampires and closest to the darkness that binds them. They contain powers unknown to the vampires of today. Many say that Hunters also derived from them, as well as the lycans. From everything I have read, scholars believed that the Ancients are the true ancestors of both races. As the vampires believe that the Corvinus brothers were the first of our kind, however, scholars were quickly silenced and the tales were written off as only stories and nothing more." Lucian paused long enough to take the tome from Aislyn and replace it on the shelf.

"When I met Nagire, he told me very little past what I assumed based on the stories. He had red eyes and that made me question his race when he claimed to be a vampire. He told me his kind was older than the ones I knew. I called him an Ancient and he did not disagree." Lucian frowned for a minute, glancing down at Aislyn. "Actually, he rather responded like you did when I called you the same." At the guarded look Aislyn 

returned, Lucian's curiosity peeked again. "There is more to it than the stories, is there not?" He moved back across the room and sat again on the edge of his bed.

"You are astute," Aislyn said with a slight dip of her head. "The legends of those scholars have some truth to them but there is as much fantasy in it as there is fact. I imagine that the legends were dismissed because it put less importance on Marcus and, thus, less importance on Viktor as the 'first one turned.'" Her fingers came up to make the quotation marks. She paused for a long moment, looking Lucian over again as though sizing him up. "What I am about to tell you has not left my coven in thousands of years. I only tell you now on the agreement that, once you are well, I will take you to London. Do I have your word?"

Lucian gazed back evenly. "Yes," he replied steadily.

"Swear it on the memory of Sonja," came the woman's demanding reply. She saw the corner of his eye twitch at the mention of his mate's name. Her tone softened as she added, "The story of what befell you is not unknown to us. Remember that it was Nagire who found you crazed and half dead after you fled the vampires."

"I swear it on her soul, I will repay my debt as soon as I am able," Lucian responded with gritted teeth. He had not anticipated hearing that name from this stranger's lips and it riled him. He was committed to London now but he had no reason to stay now that all his plans had fallen through. Perhaps a change in location was what he needed most.

"Good. Now, what I tell you here does not leave this room unless I receive permission from my superiors. You will not tell your pack why you are going north nor will you tell them this information. Should it become necessary to let them know, they will be told. Am I clear?"

"Yes. But I will not travel without the accompaniment of the remainder of my pack."

"That is expected. They are invited to join you but they cannot have this information at this time."

"Understood. Continue, please." Lucian made a gesture with his hand to encourage her to get on with it.

"The first human to be turned by a vampire was not Viktor, and it was not by Marcus' hand that it was done," Aislyn started, looking at a point somewhere to the side of Lucian's face. Her voice had taken on a different tone, as if imparting great, but dangerous, wisdom on a pupil. "Although we are not sure where the legend of the Ancients came from exactly, it, as I said before, does hold some elements of truth. We, those you call Ancients, are the first. But we are only the first vampires. The origin of the lycans is not a concern of ours. And, until somewhat recently, Hunters had little to do with our race.

"The vampires you know and loathe are a lesser sect of our breed, created when our lord, in bat form, fed on the blood of Marcus. He did not realize at the time that his action would create a separate, weaker breed of vampire that would quickly populate the world. Some but not all traits were passed through the bite. Some differences are minor, such as eye color. Others are major, such as the power one of my race can command. However, traits such as the inability to bear the sunlight, immortality, and quick healing were passed. As more were turned by Viktor and Marcus, the lines separated enough that it is almost impossible to consider us the same race. At least, that is my kind's opinion.

"We are considerably fewer in number than Marcus' version. We do not turn without great consideration and many of us cannot turn at all. What to Marcus' people is a viral strand is more of an ability for my kind. A – and I shudder to use such a stereotypically world – magic. Only the oldest know the secret, or so we thought." She paused to drink the rest of her water, considering her next words carefully. She glanced at Lucian's face but he revealed nothing of his feelings.

"Recently, vampires have been showing up in London that were not created by us but that have most of the same characteristics. We are unsure who is making them, but it is not anyone in our coven. As we are the only coven of those you call Ancients, you can see how this is upsetting the elders. They look like we do, and can do most everything we can. But they are mindless, like zombies. It is getting out of hand. We are trying our best to keep it under the scent of the humans, but it is becoming very difficult. We are killing as many of the dolls as possible but they are still managing to attack people and bring on the suspicions of the humans. We're having a hell of a time dealing with the Slayers who insist we're the ones behind it." Aislyn fell silent and, when she didn't speak again, Lucian assumed she was through.

"And what does that have to do with the lycans? Why is Nagire calling upon the debt now?" Lucian had a sinking feeling in his stomach when he met the woman's eyes again.

"Because we've recently discovered a few of your kind mixed among the dolls, just as mindless and controlled as the vampires. Whoever has unlocked the secrets of turning humans into controllable vampires has also figured out a way of doing the same with werewolves. If we cannot gain the support of the London packs, this thing may spread off our island to the rest of the world. We need help and you're the only one we can think of who may sway the werewolves to join us and put a stop to this insanity."

A silence as thick as molasses spread between them as they both retreated into their own thoughts. The implications Aislyn brought up left a thick, uncomfortable lump in Lucian's throat. He could imagine what such zombie-like dolls could do to the world and it was not a pleasant thought. "Why would I have the best chance? I am not the only pack leader left in Europe or America."

"I'm surprised you don't know," Aislyn said, her shock actually reaching her voice and causing him to wonder what she knew that he didn't. "You really don't know?"

"How can I tell you what I don't know if you don't tell me what it is that you know?" he shot back hotly, raising an eyebrow. The look on her face was the most open expression he'd seen from her yet and it was of disbelief and, to his annoyance, a little amusement.

"We knew you were pretending to be dead for God knows how long, but we didn't think you'd actually lost touch with what was going on around you. Have you not spoken with Adrian in all these years?"

The color, what was left of it anyway, drained from Lucian's face. "Adrian?"

"He is king of the London packs now. If he would not listen to you, who would he listen to?"

"Adrian and I have not spoken since Sonja…"

Aislyn eyed him with disbelief. "We had not counted on this," she said after a long moment of silence.

"He never was happy with my choice of mate," the wolf continued. "When I fled after her murder, we ceased communicating. I thought of him as dead. He's in London?" At her affirmative nod, Lucian ran fingers through his long, dark hair. "I cannot guarantee that my brother will listen, but I gave my word that I would go with you so I can do no more than try."

"Thank you," the vampire said quietly, pursing her lips at the unexpected information. "That is all we could ask of you. We should rest now. I imagine that once Raze awakens he will be terribly upset at our disappearance. Lie down; you need sleep more than I do at the moment."

As if the mention was enough to bring on drowsiness, Lucian felt an overwhelming sensation of fatigue. All the talking had drained him and he was just now realizing how tired he truly was. As he lay down on top of the covers, sleep came quickly to claim the werewolf but not before he had the unsettling feeling that his past was coming back to haunt him with a vengeance.

* * *

**AN: **That is it for chapter two. I hope that wasn't too much information overload but it was important to move the story to the meaty bits. Any questions can be directed to me via message or review and I'll be more than happy to elaborate so long as it doesn't give anything away. Thanks!

Chapter three is in progress already and probably about halfway done. I'm hoping to keep up in this manner where I'll have at least part of the next chapter done before posting the previous chapter. Anyway…


	3. Following the Vampire

**AN:** Well, here is chapter three. Since there is still interest being shown in it, I have no problems continuing the story. I had to rewrite this a bit after Zen's comment due to my brain receiving a swift kick, hehe.

**Thranduil'sDaughter: **Hey, thanks for reviewing again. Like I said, I'm hoping he'll get back to his old self once his head is back on straight. It's very disconcerting to be brought back from death.

**Zen**: As mentioned in my Author's Notes at the beginning, I gave my brain a swift boot after reading your review. Somewhere, in all of my prepping for this, I completely overlooked the pendant. I'll fix that, thanks for pointing it out and thanks for reviewing!

**Xoroth: **Thank you. I hope you're still interested in reading this.

**Saharet: ** I'm glad I've made a good impression for UW fanfic. I like Aislyn too. She's one of my favorites.

**Blackstar:** I hope it becomes a favorite of yours, too.

**Dimensioner: **Thank you for reviewing! I was actually really motivated after getting your review to continue on with this. I had most of this chapter done when I got your review and it just kicked me into action.

**To All The Readers**: I am very sorry that it took me so long to update this. I have an infant. My life is hectic, what can I say?! Thank you for reading.

**Chapter Three:**

Aislyn had been correct when she said that Raze would not be happy about their disappearance. In fact, he was downright murderous when he awoke to find that both vampire and werewolf were missing in action. He assumed that she had stolen him off somewhere and tore the room apart to pick up her scent. It didn't take him long before he was barreling up the stairs toward Lucian's chambers.

They had not bothered to lock the door and it gave easily to Raze when he shoved himself into the room. Aislyn, who had been dozing in the armchair, sprang to her feet and pointed a gun at the large, angry lycan. Her body tingled with the expectancy of a fight, any aches forgotten for a long, tense moment.

"Damnnation, Raze. I was just getting comfortable."

At the sound of his pack leader's voice, Raze's rage melted instantly and, with the usual sickening crunch of bones, his form reverted to human as he moved to the bedside. "You are alive." Although somewhat monotone, it was the closest the large, dark werewolf ever got to letting emotion into his voice. He almost sounded relieved, although it was difficult to tell behind the gravelly quality the man's voice usually had.

"Miraculously, yes." Lucian sat up on his bed, rubbing his temples. "And until very recently, I was having quite a nice nap," he added dryly.

"I thought you were taken," Raze started weakly, somehow shrinking under the hard stare of his alpha.

"You were mistaken. I decided it would be more comfortable in my room rather than on a laboratory table." The smaller werewolf swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood experimentally. Flexing his limbs, he took a quick survey of his body and was rather pleased. Looking at the vampire across the room, he addressed her. "How long was I asleep?"

Aislyn had since holstered her gun and had been doing a similar body check on herself when he spoke. She glanced at her watch. "Ten hours, give or take a few minutes," she replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," he reported honestly, taking a few tentative steps and finding them fairly pain free. "More stiff than anything. My regeneration seems to be back on track." He ran fingers over his chest again and felt that the scar tissue had almost completely receded into his flesh.

"Good. I'll unbind you then. You're probably fine to go at it on your own. If you feel any sudden, unbearable pain let me know and I'll rebind you until you're further healed." The woman moved toward the lycans. Lucian motioned Raze to take a few steps back when the dark wolf made to place himself between them.

"It is fine, my friend. She is not a threat."

"If you say so," the minion growled under his breath, but he backed up to the table and took one of the old chairs. It creaked a complaint as he settled his bulk into it.

"Now, what do you mean by 'unbind'?" Lucian directed at Aislyn as the vampire reached him. This was new information to him.

Bending down so that her face was about chest level with him, she pushed his shirt flaps to the side and started tracing symbols across his skin. He removed the garment when it kept falling into the path of her finger and watched with some interest as she worked. He couldn't get over the feeling that something wasn't quite right but didn't want to disturb her when she was concentrating. The faint blue lines spread quickly across his body as she rapidly etched them. They were almost identical to the ones she drew on him before, with only a few minor variations to indicate it was meant to break a seal instead of place one. Once more she placed her palm over his heart and muttered an unintelligible word. She throbbed blue for a brief moment before a flash of white half blinded the occupants of the room.

Almost immediately, Lucian felt a weakness settle over his body and a dull ache start behind his eyes. It was bearable however and, wincing only slightly, he flexed his limbs again. He felt as though he had merely finished a vigorous workout and not a struggle with death.

"What was that?" he asked again when she brushed her hands off and straightened her back.

"The only thing I could think of to keep you alive," she replied, placing her palms on the small of her back and arching until a series of pops ran up her spine. "I linked your vitals to my own, hoping it wouldn't kill me and take you down too. You're lucky Raze decided not to kill me when I lost consciousness." She shot a look at the black man with a nod. "Smart wolf." He grunted in response and glared at her.

"Hunter magic?" Lucian asked curiously.

"No." She leveled a look at Lucian, silently telling him that she would say no more with Raze in the room. He understood then that whatever she had done was part of the Ancient power she mentioned last night. He let it drop and turned to the other werewolf.

"Are there others?" he asked, hoping they were not the only two left.

"At least six. I sent Dubas and the rest to search for more."

"Good. When they are set, we need to call a meeting. There is something direly important I need everyone to know. Find them and spread the word. We will meet in the Gathering Chamber in one hour's time."

"Understood." Raze stood and, with a curt nod of his head at Lucian, he left the room. Aislyn closed the door behind him with a sharp snap.

"There are more drinks in the refrigerator if you wish. Help yourself." The werewolf moved to his dresser and dug through the drawers, pulling out clothing that was not riddled with bullet holes. "I'm afraid food is a little scarcer. At least, your type of food is. Now I intend to clean up a bit." Without waiting for any response, Lucian walked past her into the room beyond the mini-fridge. As she had discovered earlier while he slept, it was a bathroom. She had been pleased to see the sink worked and used it to wash her face and hands clean of the lycan's blood. He shut the door behind him, leaving Aislyn to her own devices.

The vampire took advantage of the refrigerator, pulling out another bottle of water. She heard the shower hiss to life in the next room absently and moved to the book shelf. Exploring the tomes, she found a few that looked interesting and pulled them down. Carrying them to the table, she set about to amuse herself while he freshened up. As she skimmed the pages, she mentally thanked her father for insisting she learn not only Latin but Romanian and Hungarian as well. Many texts regarding their own histories were written in both those languages. Plus it allowed her to easily communicate with the people of this region. Her accent held her English origins but at least it wasn't as horrendous as her mother's. Aislyn had started speaking multiple languages at a very young age.

When the bathroom door clicked open, the woman glanced up from her reading at a slightly damp but much cleaner werewolf. He was toweling his hair vigorously. Finished with his grooming as much as he was going to, the lycan tossed the towel aside and stared down at the vampire as if choosing his words carefully.

"I understand that some things must be removed when you do your hocus pocus," he started. "I would like it back now." It had taken Lucian the better part of his shower to figure out what the weird wrongness was that he had been feeling since he watched her remove the 'binding.' A deep stab of guilt was his reward when he realized he had not noticed the absence of the pendant. That was followed by anger that it was gone at all, both at himself for not having noticed earlier and at the vampire for having removed it and not given it back. That would be easy to remedy.

Aislyn gave Lucian a blank look and then raised her eyebrows in question. "You would like what back?"

Lucian's temper flared again and the corners of his mouth turned downward. "Don't play games. The pendant." He held his hand out towards her but received only the empty gaze of the vampire.

"I don't know what you're talking about. The only thing I removed from your body was that silver." Aislyn closed the book slowly and set it on the table. "You weren't wearing any pendants."

Lucian caught her gaze and held it stonily for a long moment before sighing deeply and looking away. He could detect no lies from her; she seemed genuine. "Kraven, I bet." He snarled suddenly and flopped inelegantly into the other chair at the table. "Damn blood sucker probably wanted a souvenir for his glorious kill." If he ever met up with that double-crosser again, he would make him suffer worse than death. Lucian felt a sudden hallowness in his chest and would have broken something out of frustration if that had been his style. Due to this dept he was now sworn to repay, he didn't have the time nor the resources to hunt Kraven down.

Aislyn watched him carefully for a moment before shrugging inwardly. Whatever had happened to the necklace, it was of no real concern to her. She had gotten what she had come for, after all. She didn't think of Lucian as the type of man to back down on his word.

"How much time do we have?" he asked, eyes still brooding darkly.

"Half an hour," Aislyn said with a quick look at her watch. "Whenever you're ready."

* * *

The Gathering Chamber, like the rest of the wolf den, was a dank and drippy room composed of crumbling blocks of stone masonry and puddles of green-slimed liquid. It was lit by florescent bulbs that reflected an irritating flicker in the pools of ooze.

Lucian, always a master of timing, dallied in his chambers long enough to be late for his own meeting. Aislyn said nothing to the stalling the werewolf master used. Although she was getting used to Lucian's presence, the thought of being surrounded by lycans was unnerving. Plus, Lucian was in a terrible mood since discovering that she didn't have Sonja's pendant. She double checked that her gloves were securely on her hands before they left the rooms, hoping she would not have cause to use them.

The shower had revived the lycan and he strode down the stairs with more confidence than the day before. He led the way past the landing of the laboratory to the antechamber the labs overlooked. Aislyn kept her eyes peeled for any sign of life as they moved and noticed that the body she had seen earlier from the upper room was no longer there. The lycans must have removed it.

The pair moved across the antechamber and down a dark hallway set across the room. Although the corridor was silent when they entered it, Aislyn started to detect a disturbance ahead. The further they walked, the louder the noise became and she scrunched her nose at it in distaste. The lycans had apparently gathered. They were not a quiet race.

The snarling and snapping of the lycans intensified as they turned a corner. Emerging into the room, Lucian surveyed the remainder of his pack passively until one of the wolves near the door noticed him and fell silent. In a matter of moments, the entire room was hushed as they looked at their leader expectantly. Those who had been in wolf form quickly shrank to the size and shape of men. It was a moment before they noticed that Lucian had a shadow that was staring at them with barely guarded hostility.

With an uproar of noise, demands were thrown toward the vampire as the lycans surged forward. Although Aislyn did take an involuntary step backwards, Lucian held his ground and glared coldly at anyone who dared come within a few steps of him.

"That will be quite enough," he growled sharply to the confused pack. "Sit. Now. And listen."

Despite the presence of the vampire, the lycans did as told immediately, finding places to crouch around the room, some on the floor, and some on the rubble.

"That's better," Lucian praised with just enough sarcasm to sting. He moved, then, further into the room toward a chair set up along the far wall that remained unoccupied. Raze stood next to it as if to reinforce that it would remain that way. Aislyn followed closely, eyes darting around at the werewolves. Once Lucian had settled himself in the chair, she took up position standing to his right, between Raze and the chair, schooling her face to a neutral, blank expression. Even though the large wolf was intimidating, he was completely loyal to the pack leader and Aislyn knew he would not dare to strike out at her with Lucian sitting right there.

All told there were about one dozen of the lycans. His pack was less than half its original size and Lucian cringed at the sight. Most of them seemed whole and well, though. They had healed from their wounds well and would be ready to travel soon.

"I am sure you have many questions," Lucian started once everyone was settled. "This is Aislyn." He motioned to the woman at his side. "She is of a foreign coven of vampires and is no threat to any of you." He paused and surveyed his shrunken pack with a degree of sadness. "This is all we have left?" he asked of the group. They looked away from his gaze solemnly.

"This is all we could find, My Lord," Dubas spoke up when no one answered directly.

"Well, it is better than nothing, I suppose." Lucian sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead.

"There is good news, My Lord," Dubas continued. "We found this."

Lucian's eyebrows raised as the werewolf dragged something up from behind a pile of rocks. He flung the body down at Lucian's feet. The corpse skidded a foot or so and was quickly followed by a chunk of head that had been detached from the skull.

"Viktor," Lucian snarled, standing from his chair to examine the body.

Aislyn moved from her spot to look at the body, too. She kicked the top half of the skull in disdain. "Good riddance," she murmured before retaking her spot by the chair.

Lucian took a moment longer to look over the corpse as if to satisfy himself that it was indeed the hated vampire. Sitting back in his chair, he motioned for the body to be taken away. A couple werewolves came forward and removed the body from their leader's presence.

"That is good news," Lucian said at length, although his tone wasn't exactly convincing. He sounded tired and Aislyn took a moment to look closely at the lycan to determine if it was a physical weakness or if it was something else. He looked fine. Something was bothering him.

Shaking himself slightly, Lucian looked up at his pack once more. "The war, as far as I am concerned, is over. Throw that back where you found it. It is of no use to me." He waited a moment longer before continuing.

"As I said, the war is over. The descendant of Corvinus has been mixed, my goal to start a blending accomplished. Many of you may ask what we are to do now." There were grunts of agreement from around the chamber. "I intend to leave this place. I have lived too long underground. A change of scenery is in order. We will head north-west in a few days."

The room erupted again in noise as multiple lycans demanded to know why and to where they were bound. Lucian watched them with an expression of boredom until they quieted once more.

"We are to go to London for personal reasons. You will be told more when we get there. If you choose to desert me and remain here, that is your own prerogative." Lucian's tone, however, said differently and none of the gathered wolves met his direct look. They would follow him where ever he said they were to go without real question. Aislyn had to admire their loyalty. Few vampires respected their leaders in the same way.

"Until we leave you are to rest and regain your strength. I have the feeling that we will need all of our wits about us in our new home." The lycan king spared a glance in Aislyn's direction. She looked back impassively but inwardly agreed with him. "I will give you further instruction when the time is right. Use this time to settle any other affairs you may have. You are dismissed." He waved a hand to the assembled lycans. Slowly, the wolves dispersed, leaving only Raze and Aislyn with the pack leader in the dank little chamber.

"What is in London?" Raze ventured as soon as the others were gone.

Lucian glanced at Aislyn once more as if asking permission to reveal information that wasn't his to reveal. The vampire considered the large, dark wolf for a moment before speaking for Lucian.

"Vampires that need killing," she answered simply. "You need not know more at this time. If you trust your leader, you will keep your mouth shut and be satisfied in that knowledge."

The lycan bristled, shoulders tensing as he glared at the insolent woman. "I was not talking to you-" he started. Lucian interrupted him before matters were made worse.

"That will be quite enough. You need rest, too, my friend. Go, sleep. I will be fine in the company of this vampire." He stood in a fluid motion. "She and I have much to discuss and I must pack. Shall we?" he held a hand toward the doorway of the chamber, indicating that he and Aislyn should return to his rooms. Silently, she moved past his arm toward the opening, quite happy to be away from the other wolves. She would be spending quite enough time with them in the next few days as it was.

* * *

"If we have a vampire in our numbers, why are we leaving while the sun still shines?" Raze followed Lucian close on his heels. Both wolves carried a backpack full of what little possessions they cared to keep. Lucian's was full of books and not much else. Aislyn had assured him that he would be adequately equipped upon arrival to her coven so taking material goods was not necessary. He was not about to leave behind the harder to find ancient tomes he had collected over the years, however, and chose to bring only those. If he ever actually returned to this dark hole in the ground, he may take the rest of his belongings. He doubted it, though, and felt no remorse for what was being left. It was almost a relief to be free of the underworld he had dwelt in for so long.

"She has assured me that it will not be a problem, although I don't understand the whole of it. Apparently it has something to do with her blood-line. You can always ask her when we leave." The last comment was made with a smirk. He knew how well Raze and Aislyn got on and it was a great amusement to the lycan leader to egg them on. It was like watching siblings bicker over who got the window seat on an airplane.

"I will take your word for it," Raze replied instead, barely able to keep the edge from his voice. The female was a nuisance and she tended to push all of Raze's buttons. He would rather not have to communicate with her further than the bare minimum necessary.

"I knew you would see it my way. Now, is everyone ready?"

The two lycans moved quickly through the underground labyrinth that was their home, making their way toward a ground-level access at the far northern end of the complex. Aislyn would be waiting street-side for the gathered lycans. She supposedly had transportation arranged to take them to the airport, where a jet would be waiting to fly them across to England.

"They should already be assembled on the surface. We are the last to leave."

"Everyone accounted for?"

"Yes. No one wanted to be left behind. They are true to you, My Lord."

"Good. Let us keep it that way."

A few more moments brought them to a slippery, metal ladder. They climbed it nimbly to the man-hole that opened into a back alley. Lucian's pack waited in the alley and stood from their resting places the moment Lucian straightened himself out and headed for the street.

Aislyn stood at the curb, her hands shoved into the pockets of her overcoat. Lucian felt a strange tingle at the nape of his neck. It was disconcerting to see a vampire standing in the sunlight without combusting. If she noticed his unease, she said nothing about it. She merely nodded her head in greeting then motioned to the cars parked along the curb. He didn't ask her how she had come by them, nor did she volunteer the information.

"Let's load up," he said over his shoulder at his pack. "We have a schedule to keep."

He and Aislyn climbed into the back of the first car, Raze took the driver's seat. Once the other wolves had found cars and stuffed themselves into them, the leader gave the signal and the caravan moved out.

The airport was not far from their departure point and, as promised, a private jet sat on the runway awaiting the motley crew from the depths. In relative silence – only a few short spoken commands from Lucian to direct his men – they boarded and were airborne. Not until they were at cruising altitude did Aislyn seem to relax. Lucian noticed the tension ease from her shoulders and she leaned back into the leather chair she occupied next to him.

She pulled a cell phone from her jacket pocket and flipped it open to peer at the screen. A few buttons later and she held the device to her ear.

"Trying to make us crash?" Lucian asked casually. She rolled her eyes at him and didn't reply. Lucian could hear the line ringing faintly and, settling back into his own chair, prepared to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"_Hello?" _ It was a masculine voice that Lucian found oddly familiar.

"Airborne. Everything ready on your end?"

"_Yes. How is everything? Going well?"_

"As expected."

"_Good. See you in a few."_

The phone clicked shut and was replaced in the jacket.

"Not to pry, but I take it that is your contact?" Lucian asked casually, peering at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Our pick-up," she responded evenly, returning his sideways glance. "He will be there when we land to take us to my home." The woman half closed her eyes. "It should be dark when we land. It had better be or we will be waiting a long time for him to come get us."

"Not a day-light vampire then?"

Aislyn laughed shortly in the back of her throat. "No. There are only two of us that can stand in direct sunlight without dying a horrible, ashy death; myself and my mother."

"Ah, your Hunter blood. Is that why?"

"We believe so," she admitted. "Although we have no real concept of why that overrides the vampire's natural inclination of turning to dust in the daylight. I am the only progeny so there are no others for comparison besides my mother."

"Was she born of Hunter and vampire, then?"

"No." Aislyn turned her head slowly toward him and raised her eyebrows. "Do you have a reason for this interrogation?"

"Knowledge for the sake of curiosity," Lucian supplied. "If we are to be working in close quarters, I would like to know a little more about what I am getting myself into."

"For a dog, you have the curiosity of a cat," Aislyn said in a mocking tone, a small smile twinkling in her eyes. "If you must know, my mother was born a Hunter and turned when my father decided it was the best possible option."

Lucian opened his mouth, preparing for another question. Aislyn held up her hand to stop it before it could come out.

"No. It is my turn, Mr. Lucian. You have asked me quite enough personal questions for one flight."

"Your turn? What of me would you like to know?"

Aislyn adjusted her position to better see him. "Well, as you are practically a historical figure, I suppose there isn't much that I can ask that I don't already know. I am curious, however, if how the history books portrayed it is true. I'd rather hear your side of things."

Lucian was silent for a long moment, gazing passively at the vampire. "You are going to have to be a little more specific than that, Aislyn," he said seriously. "I have lived a long life that has been plagued by biased, vampiric history writers."

"Which is why I would like to know the truth of things. As you said, if we will be working closely together in these next few months, I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. You are not known to be a lover of vampires."

"My quarrel was with Viktor. He is the one that brought the rest of his race into the fray. He is dead now so the war is over as far as I am concerned."

"And here I come, the harbinger of more war," Aislyn muttered. "For that I apologize."

"From the sounds of what you have told me, this is a war worth getting into. Although I will need to fully assess that when we arrive."

"Good idea. I suggest we get some rest before that happens, though. It will be a long night when we arrive in London." Aislyn turned her eyes forward once more and shifted in her seat. "Good night, Lucian."

The werewolf looked past her at the sun shining on the clouds below them and smirked. "Good night, Aislyn."

* * *

The jerk of wheels landing on solid ground awoke the lycan from the light sleep he had slipped into. He glanced toward his left to see that Aislyn was peering out the window into the darkness beyond.

The plane taxied to a much smoother halt and half-asleep lycans roused themselves, snagging their bags from the overhead.

"What time is it?" he asked softly as they made their way down the aisle toward the front of the plane.

"Ten… ish," Aislyn responded vaguely. It was good enough for the lycan, he didn't ask further.

They alighted the portable stairway that had been wheeled up to the plane's door and made quick work of exiting the craft. Without hesitation, Aislyn walked toward a set of cars parked not too far away on the tarmac. A quick glance around confirmed to Lucian that this was a private airport, the kind reserved for both the very rich and for the hobbyist who flew on the weekends.

As Lucian approached behind Aislyn, he felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle. A man was getting out of the closest car. He embraced the woman warmly and then turned his crimson gaze to the wolf. He grinned. Lucian felt himself return the wordless greeting before reaching out a hand to grasp that of the vampire.

"Nagire. It has been a long time." He stated the obvious but didn't much care. It was really all he could think to say. He hadn't seen this man in some 600 years. It was hard to think of the most meaningful thing to say when they had not conversed in many lifetimes.

"Lucian, you are looking well. The reports Aislyn sent us had made me worry. I suppose with her on the job I shouldn't have fretted." The vampire glanced behind the werewolf for a split second, sizing up the group. "We shouldn't spend any more time here than we have to. Let us go."

The small pack loaded the cars with little ceremony. It was little more than a quarter of an hour before the procession was slinking its way through the darkened streets of London. Lucian and Raze shared a car with Aislyn and her brother. It was a long time before anyone spoke.

Finally, Aislyn voiced what had been on her mind since the flight. "How bad has it been? I have been away for too long."

Nagire sighed before answering. "Damn quiet. Everyone is on edge. Plus with our rather odd houseguests arriving soon," Nagire paused to smirk at Lucian who returned the expression knowingly, "most of the coven is overly agitated."

"We're not exactly excited about it, either," Raze rumbled from his seat next to Lucian.

"Oh, you have no idea," Nagire murmured but didn't elaborate. "Regardless, you will be put up in our home with any amenity you need. Our kinds may not have the best of history, but we hope we can put that aside and work together now."

"I have said before, my quarrel was with Viktor. I have no animosity toward the majority of the vampires. Although I am not looking forward to more war, from what Aislyn has told me, this is a battle that is worth fighting."

"Yes, I do believe for the good of not just our kinds, but for all the peoples of this earth we share, we must fight this fight." Nagire gazed out his window for a long time, silence engulfing the group again.

"How far is your home?" Lucien asked at last.

"Not too much further," the elder vampire replied. "We actually own a complex in a lesser populated high-society area. Our neighbors leave us alone so long as we do the same. You will see what I mean when we arrive. Shouldn't be more than half an hour."

The remainder of the drive passed quietly as Nagire did not seem in any more of a mood to talk and Aislyn was half asleep, dozing next to him.

Lucien saw what Nagire meant as they left the bulk of the city and drove into suburban areas. At first the houses were rather close together but the further they went, the more spacious the plots became until they pulled up to the closed gate of what appeared to be a gated community. The driver spoke into the intercom at the gate and it slowly swung inward to allow them and the other cars passage.

"Welcome," Nagire said as they rolled through. "This is our complex. Once the sun is up and you are sufficiently rested, my sister will give you and your pack a better tour of our facilities. Everything within the gates belongs to our coven."

Lucien barely hid his surprised at the sheer size of the grounds. He had assumed that it was a private neighborhood, not that the vampires owned the entire community.

"Most of our members live in these houses here," Nagire continued, indicating the sizeable homes they drove past. "The manor holds mostly only the main family and important guests. That is where you will be staying as honored visitors. Here we are now."

Near the center of the complex was a sizeable manor-house in an old Victorian style. Three stories high, it towered over the smaller, two story homes that nestled in its shadow. It was definitely sizeable enough to hold not only Lucien's pack but a number twice that comfortably.

The caravan rolled to a halt in front of the building and the occupants piled out, gazing around themselves.

"Do not worry about your possessions. We will have someone bring them in while you get settled and shown to your quarters." Nagire made for the door with Aislyn. Lucien and Raze followed closely behind them, the rest of the pack bringing up the rear.

The large double front doors led onto an open sitting room filled with plush couches and a mish-mash of oriental rugs. The bright, cheerful lighting illuminated numerous paintings hung on the wall. A few vampires sat around, chattering to one another. The conversation died as Nagire and Aislyn entered with the werewolves.

One of the vampires stood from her chair as they entered. She had a young, heart-shaped face – so similar to Aislyn that the relation could not be mistaken - and long, dark brown hair that brushed her elbows. Her blood-colored eyes, however, had a much older look to them. She was dressed simply enough in a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved blue blouse. She smiled slowly at the visitors. Before she could speak, however, a guttural bark exploded from one of the werewolves.

"Gates!" Raze snarled, the whites of his eyes visible as he stared, bewildered, at his old nemesis.

"Hello, Raze," Lina purred at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Welcome to my home."

* * *

AN: And that's it for this chapter. Sorry it took so long to put up. Stuff happens. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. The First Battle

**AN: **So here is Chapter four of my little brain-child. It's rather long so I hope you're looking forward to a good sit. Enjoy!

Additional: Added a couple of minor fixes to the chapter, nothing major. But that explains the re-upload of this chapter.

**Additional: **Sorry about the double updating of this chapter... i just re-read it and smacked myself over a couple of directional typos... grrr.

**Kat07: **I'm glad you like it. I, too, wanted to read something a little more about Lucian. When I couldn't find much, I decided to write my own in hopes that there was someone else out there who was looking for something like it.

**DeadlyImperfection: **I'm sure this chapter will tell you much more about where our Aislyn came from. I hope you read on.

**BlackBaccaraRose:** Thanks so much!

**Chantelle Cullen: **Thank you for such a nice review! I'm really glad you liked it. Your assumption about Lina is correct. She and Raze have a very bad past, hehe, which will make things fun here. She spent a long time trying to kill him as briefly mentioned in the prologue. I'm going to have fun with them living in the same house, hehe.

**Chapter Four: The First Battle**

The best word for what happened next would probably be "Pandemonium." With hardly a pause, Raze launched himself across the distance intent on tearing the woman to very tiny shreds. A sword somehow appeared in Lina's hands although the assembled werewolves hadn't noticed any blades sheathed on the woman and her clothing was not suited to hiding slim, deadly blades.

Aislyn's guns, which were obviously holstered under her overcoat, were out instantly as well but neither vampire had time to more than blink before Raze smashed to the ground under the sudden weight of Lucian as the lycan alpha tackled his second-in-command to the rugs. There was a moment of confused snarling and tussling before Raze realized who it was keeping him from his prey.

Lucian hauled the black man to his feet and shook him vigorously before tossing him back toward the eerily silent pack. They shuffled around to make room for the large man. Raze managed to look contrite and avoided the black glare of his leader.

The alpha rolled his shoulders and smoothed his hair, taking a moment to compose himself. His eyes faded from full black to their usual green. Clearing his throat slightly he lifted his eyes to Lina and the sword she held between herself and the lycans.

"I do apologize for my friend. It has been a very long time since we have been in a social setting that required him to mind his manners. I do hope we can put this behind and proceed with the purpose that has brought us here."

Aislyn quickly replaced her guns and nodded slightly to her mother. The sword flashed and vanished. Lucian made a mental note to ask Aislyn about that later. He had quite a few new questions in light of the most recent developments.

"Of course," Lina replied amicably. She ran her hands down her front, smoothing her blouse and taking a moment to compose herself as well. "I do believe you are quite tired from your travels. Allow me to show you to your quarters where you may rest and refresh yourselves." The woman beckoned for the guests to follow her as she proceeded through the sitting room they stood in.

Through a door opposite the sitting room, they entered a larger room that may have been considered a family room. It was two stories high, opened to a balcony at the far end where one could look down into the room from the second floor. A stairway on the right led up to the landing and hallways disappeared on either side of the balcony.

"To the left here are the doors to the main dining room and the kitchens. The far door on the left lead directly into the kitchens but you can get there from the dining room as well. We do have a stock of non-blood food in our fridges that you are welcome to eat should it suit your fancy. Just avoid the cheesecake. If my husband finds you have eaten it, he will skewer you and leave you to bleed to death." There was something about her tone that indicated she was not joking. Lucian hoped his wolves heard it, too.

"To the right," Lina was continuing as they crossed the room, "are the libraries and conference rooms. You are also welcome to go in there if reading is your forte. I'm sure we will all be visiting the conference rooms more than we want in the coming days." She pointed to doors directly across from where they entered the room. "I suggest you avoid exploring too much in that direction. Those rooms belong to my husband and his private affairs. He is not a man to cross so avoid them at all cost."

"Where is Daddy?" Aislyn asked, glancing around as if she expected to see him pop out of the wall and shout 'boo.' Lucian caught himself before he chuckled at hearing Aislyn use the word 'daddy.' It didn't seem to fit her persona.

"Out at the moment. The sun will be up soon, though, so he should be returning shortly. If not then I'll have to go search for him with the dust pan and bring him back myself." Lina headed up the stairs with the group on her heels. Lucian's lips thinned slightly as they climbed up to the balcony walkway. He thought that perhaps that was meant to be a joke but it seemed to be very difficult to tell when this woman was being facetious. He glanced at Aislyn but the young woman merely looked thoughtful.

"To the right," Lina was saying as they reached the top and spread out on the walkway, "are the rooms of those who actually live in this house, which is mainly the family. There is access to more libraries and a variety of other rooms with other purposes throughout the second floor. Access to the third floor can be found over the entry room if you follow the hallway all the way around on either side." She pointed vaguely across the open air toward the far wall as if to indicate where the stairway was.

"There isn't much upstairs to interest you unless you like collectable things. We call it the junk floor for a good reason. My esteemed spouse tends to be a packrat." Lina shook her head slowly then returned her attention to the left side of the terrace. "If you follow me this way we will reach the guestrooms."

They entered the hallway and saw a serious of doors stretching along the length on both sides. Lina moved halfway down and stopped next to a door with more wall space stretched between it than the others indicating the room beyond was larger.

"All the other rooms in this hall are more or less identical. There are a few more around the corner to the left at the end of the hall if there are not enough in this section of hall. I don't care where you put yourselves with the exception of this room here." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a key. She held it up and looked at Lucian. "This room is reserved for only our most esteemed of guests." She held it out to the lycan who took it carefully from her. "If you have need of anything, you may ask anyone within this house.

"I have some things I must attend to now before our Lord returns from his nightly creeping. Good night." Lina left them and disappeared back down the stairs. Nagire nodded at Lucian and followed the woman.

Lucian glanced at his pack and nodded slightly to dismiss them. Then he turned to the only other occupant of the hallway and looked at her levelly without a word. She gazed impassively back. It was not hard as they were basically of the same height.

"I suppose," Aislyn said finally, "you have some questions?"

A smirk passed across Lucian's face as he held up the key Lina had handed him. "My place or yours?"

The guestroom that Lucian had been given was spacious and consisted of three rooms suited together. The main room was actually a small study or sitting room. There were bookcases filled with tomes both old and new, a few couches and chairs set on plush rugs. The wall panels were of a beautiful light brown oak with matching tables and shelves. The far wall held three high arched windows draped with heavy green velvet, thick enough to block out all light. They were tied back now to allow the moonlight to filter in through thick panes of glass. There was a fireplace along the right-hand wall that was not currently lit but smelled pleasantly of wood smoke as if it had been burning recently. There was also a pile of firewood stacked on the stone cobbles of the hearth to invite the guests to have a fire if they so wished.

There was a door next to the fireplace. Lucian poked his head through it briefly and saw it was the bedroom. A large, comfortable looking four-poster bed stood in the center of the room with the headboard pressed to the wall. The walls were much the same as the sitting room and the bed spread was the same deep green of the drapes. There were no windows in the bedroom. Lucian guessed it would be well suited to any visiting vampire to not have any chance of sunlight getting into the sleeping chamber.

There was another fireplace mirrored in the wall where the first one was placed. Lucian guessed both fireplaces opened into the same flume, not that it really mattered to him if they did or not.

There was also a door to the left in the bedroom that opened into the bathroom. His eyebrows rose at the spacious accommodations. The room held not only a walk-in shower large enough for a small family but also a Jacuzzi tub big enough for himself and a few guests. There were two sinks in the counter and a very fuzzy white fur rug on the tile that matched the overall porcelain and blue motif. A large, frosted window hung over the Jacuzzi tub and it appeared as though it could be opened if the bather so wished to have some fresh air. As they were on the second floor and there were no other tall buildings nearby, it would be virtually impossible to see into the bathroom from any other home in the complex.

Reappearing in the sitting room after his exploration, he found Aislyn had already found herself a seat on one of the green suede couches near the fireplace. She was picking dirt out from under her nails and looked a little bored. When she saw him return she motioned for him to join her.

Taking up her invitation, Lucian sat next to her on the couch, close enough to be companionable but not so close as to make it uncomfortable.

"You can ask me whatever you like but I may not answer everything as is my right," she reminded him as he regarded her quietly from his seat.

"Of course," he agreed. "I would expect the same should you have questions."

"Good. Now what would you like to know? I'm sure you've thought of _something_ to ask me since we last spoke on the airplane."

Lucian couldn't help but grin at her words. She was a lot easier to read than her mother and he knew the sarcastic joke upon hearing it.

"I must admit I was not expecting to see Lina Gates since I read her obituary forty years ago," he started, leaning back against the arm of the couch. "Perhaps you can enlighten me to why she's not precisely dead?"

Aislyn tilted her head at him. "It was staged," she said simply after a moment. "Mind you, I'm telling you what I was told so I'm not sure of the little details." Lucian nodded his understanding and indicated she should continue.

"According to the family stories, Mother was dying. She was in a hospital in a town called Portland in the United States. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with her but her blood was sick. This was back in the 1960s of course so their medical breakthroughs aren't nearly as advanced as now.

"Anyway, she was sick. They weren't sure how to cure her and she was listed as a terminal case. My father was in the hospital for some reason. He always evades the issue when I ask. I think he was stealing from the blood bank, personally." Aislyn smirked and rubbed her forehead, then brushed her hair back behind her ears.

"The story goes that he came across her and thought her too beautiful to lose to death. He was certain that if he could turn her, he could cure her. He approached her and offered immortality. To a young woman dying of some mysterious ailment… well, what would you do?"

Lucian nodded. "I suppose to one not born into our world it could be enticing to have an endless life before you. I have never known anything but this so I cannot fully relate."

"Neither have I," Aislyn confirmed. "But anyway." She waved a hand dismissively. "To put it simply, she accepted his offer."

"And they put a fake obituary into the paper to cover lose ends," Lucian finished with understanding.

"He brought her to London where no one knew her and no one would recognize her. She built a new life with him."

"And they had you." Lucian regarded her for a long moment, wondering how old she really was. She seemed so young but she was born immortal as he was. He hardly looked over 35 yet his years added to over 600. As far as any of the wolves knew, he was the oldest of their kind. This young woman before him could quite possibly be as old as 40. It was nothing compared to his advanced years but it was old enough to be considered world-wise.

"Not right away." At that Aislyn's lips split into an ironic grin. "She hated him at first once the euphoria of being alive wore off. They've never really told me what changed her mind but I'm glad she did or I definitely would not be here."

"That brings me to my next question," he started, shifting a bit more on the couch to look at her better. "Who is this father of yours? You mentioned in my den that very few Ancients can turn others to the species. And, since arriving here, your mother has been threatening us that should we set one toe out of line her esteemed husband will destroy us slowly while we sit in our own bodily fluids."

Aislyn looked up at the ceiling as if considering the chandelier with the utmost interest. "I suppose you'll find out one way or another. Forewarning may be nice." She stood in a fluid motion and went to a bookshelf. She quickly snagged a heavy volume from the shelf and flipped it open. Once she found the page she wanted, she turned it around and dropped in into Lucian's lap. "Not the best illustration of him but you'll see soon what he really looks like."

Lucian gazed down at the pages quietly, soaking in what Aislyn was trying to tell him. There was text scrawled across the left page in Romanian. The right page, however, was taken up by a black and white inked picture of a man from the chest up. His hair was long, slightly wavy, and reached below the bottom edge of the picture. His face was long and angular with a ridiculous mustache and pointed goatee. His brows were thick and heavy, his eyes sunken. The pupils were inked so that he looked eerily out of the picture as if he could see into their very souls. His lips were twisted into a cruel scowl like he had tasted something terribly sour and wanted to spit it out. On top of it all he wore a ridiculous pointy hat with a furry edging.

Lucian did not speak. He had seen this picture before. Everyone in the entirety of Eastern Europe had seen it before. He blinked mutely, turning his eyes to the text and scanning it as if he didn't know what was already written there. Of course he knew. Everyone knew. What he didn't know was how it could be possible that a man that was merely a legend could really be what all this hype was about?

"Explain," he merely said instead.

"What is there to explain?" Aislyn returned. "That text is pretty accurate. I know you can read."

Lucian shook his head vaguely, his stomach dropping under his knees. "I think I'd like to hear it from someone. You must admit this is a bit much to believe." He lifted his green eyes to meet her red ones. "This is like saying that Jesus really was the son of some god and not just a visionary."

Aislyn sat back down a little closer than before so she could see the picture in the book. "I don't see how it's anything like that," she defended.

"I'm sorry but until not that long ago your Ancients were a legend and my vampires were the only real story. If they knew all this they would cry sacrilege." Lucian snapped the book shut and set it upon the coffee table in front of them. He turned to her. "I really could use an explanation of how this particular historical figure is walking around alive and well." He thumbed his knuckles on the book before leaning back into the plush comfort of the couch.

"Very well, if you're going to be difficult about it," Aislyn said a little snippily. "When my father was a boy, he became ill. It wasn't anything contagious. It was as though some hidden gene suddenly decided to become active. It was rumored that his mother had been a witch so it wasn't surprising that he had the powers that he did. It was the other things that were peculiar; aversion to sunlight, a taste for undercooked meats, his vicious and vindictive nature.

"Villagers called him a devil and claimed he was the spawn of Satan or some nonsense. He felt that if they were going to call him evil, he might as well fit the bill. He learned to use his powers, became the terrifying figure he's known for in history. Somewhere along the way he managed to inadvertently cause the viral infection that created your vampires."

Aislyn shifted slightly to get more comfortable. She pulled her legs up onto the couch, brushing Lucian's leg with her knee unintentionally. She didn't seem to notice the twitch in the corner of Lucian's eye at the contact and continued her story.

"He did terrible things," she spoke softly, looking into the distance as if she were somewhere else. "He refuses to speak of it, though. I asked him once when I was a small child after reading a history book with him in it. He told me he had buried it in the past and intended to leave it there. I think he regrets it but he's not much of a talker.

"When things started to get too hairy with the locals, and the wars with the Turks were getting sketchy, too, he faked his own death with the help of some of his loyal followers. He and his current wife moved to Brittan to start over. He learned to turn others and made her the first. Shortly after that they discovered they could still reproduce and that their offspring retained the same traits."

"Nagire," Lucian whispered.

"Yes. He was the first born vampire. Of course, back then that wasn't what we were called. It took many years of superstition and twisted history to make us what we are today. Things always get lost in translation."

"So he's changed then?" Lucian murmured more to himself than to her.

"I suppose. I haven't known him that long in the scheme of things. He seems a decent enough sort. As far as I know he hasn't impaled anyone since he came to England." Their eyes locked again and she saw Lucian swallow. He seemed to have a hard time coming to grips with who her father really was. She didn't see why but she tried to look at it from his point of view. She did just tell him that one of history's most atrocious tyrants was alive and well and lived in this very house. And she was his daughter. And he was sitting alone with her in his rooms.

Lucian's mouth felt suddenly dry. Many families in Romania and Hungary told their children to behave or this man's ghost would haunt them. When Lucian was growing up the vampires had all laughed at the legends, claiming they couldn't be true as Marcus was the first. It was fairy tale, nothing more. Now the legend appeared to be true and all the fairytales no longer children's stories.

Something suddenly occurred to him as she allowed him to absorb the information in silence. "A few days ago you released my body from some sort of binding. You said it wasn't Hunter magic."

Startled a bit by the change in topic, it took Aislyn a moment to figure out what he was talking about. "Oh, yes?" She blinked at him.

"That's from your vampire side. The vampires I know cannot command such powers."

"It is one of the things lost to them when they were transmitted the virus. It comes from my grandmother's witchcraft that my father inherited. I was born with it as well."

They lapsed into silence again. Aislyn glanced toward the windows and frowned. The sky was starting to lighten and there was still no sign of her father. She tried to shake off an uneasy feeling when Lucian cleared his throat and called her attention back to him.

He opened his mouth to speak when a loud banging sound echoed around the house. A series of doors slammed shut and Aislyn jumped to her feet. Without a word to Lucian she raced from his room. The lycan was only a step behind her as she jumped the banister of the second floor. She landed with a soft thud in the living room. A thump next to her signaled that Lucian skipped the stairs, too.

A man was being half dragged, half carried into the room by Lina. The woman was uttering a series of swears directed at the intelligence of the man she was lugging around. She dropped him onto a couch and started yanking off his black trench coat with very little sympathy to the ugly red burns stretched across half his body.

"A little more gently, my Nightingale?" he pleaded weakly as she popped the buttons of his red dress-shirt, pulling it off swiftly to get a better look at the damage.

"It's your own damn fault so don't even play that pity bull-crap with me," Lina scolded. She glanced at Aislyn then flicked her eyes at the lycan. Lucian's face was white as a sheet as he stared at the legend on the couch and the angry red marks obscuring the only side of the face he could see.

"Sweetheart, I'm afraid these are beyond me. Think you can do something for this moron while I find him something to eat?" Lina didn't wait for a response before disappearing through the door to the kitchens.

Aislyn sighed, half with relief that her father was alive and half from exasperation at the sight of him. She moved to his side and started assessing the worse of the burns before deciding to start with the face.

"Next time you intend to be late," Aislyn muttered as she starting tracing pentagrams above her father's head, "find a dark place to hide and call us to let us know you're not coming home."

"How often do you find a payphone in a sewer?" he retorted through cracked and bleeding lips.

"If you would just take your damn cell phone with you," Aislyn growled, half her concentration on the spell. "We have a family plan. It's free mobile-to-mobile."

"Can we maybe speak about this when my head isn't split in two?"

"You're exaggerating. Your skull is completely in tacked."

Lucian hung back, watching father and daughter bicker as, slowly, the scars receded off the man's face. When she was done there, she moved to his arms and hands, working inward to the large red blotch that spread halfway across his chest. He found himself rather curious about the older man.

As Aislyn had said, the drawing in the book wasn't a very good representation. He would hardly have guessed this was the same person but he trusted Aislyn to be honest with him, although he wasn't entirely certain why.

Her father's hair was a stark black the same shade as Aislyn's. His eyes, like all the others, were blood red. At that moment they were closed. Even though his face was pinched in pain, Lucian could tell he was a handsome enough man. He had a well built face with a long nose and pointed chin. He had no facial hair although a slight five 'o'clock shadow was sprouting on his chin. His brows were definitely not heavy, his eyes not sunken, and he hardly looked as though he had tasted something bitter. Lucian figured the picture had been an artist representation of what the man stood for more than what he actually looked like.

"There. You'll heal well enough on your own from here." Aislyn slapped him on the shoulder and stood back near Lucian to give her father room to sit up and re-dress his chest.

Once put back together – sans trench coat – he stood and finally turned his eyes on the man who stood behind his daughter. He regarded Lucian for a long moment not saying anything. The lycan met his gaze steadily not giving this man the pleasure of intimidating him. After another somewhat awkward moment in which the air could have been cut with a knife, the master of the house looked at his daughter.

"Well? Are you going to introduce me to your friend or do I need to continue this pointless stare-down? I'm very tired."

Aislyn jumped slightly, realizing her lapse. She cleared her throat self-consciously and turned to Lucian. "Father, this is Lucian, King of the Lycans of Eastern Europe. Lucian, this is Vlad Tepes, my esteemed father."

Both men nodded politely at each other. As far as they were both concerned, they were of an equivalent rank. Vlad tilted his head in a very Aislyn-like gesture as he spoke, his voice soft and quiet. "I was not aware you would be arriving today. Tomorrow night we must have a gathering." He glanced toward the kitchen door. "Lina!" He yelled, the sudden increase in his voice startling Lucian. He didn't show it, however, and followed Vlad's gaze toward the door.

"What?" a voice yelled back. "I'm busy!"

"I'm calling a Gathering for tomorrow night! Going to bed now. Good night!" He turned to Aislyn, leaned forward, and kissed her forehead lightly. He nodded again at Lucian. Then, with a smirk, he took a step back and vanished.

The hair on the back of Lucian's neck rose and he glanced around quickly.

"It's alright. That's one of his favorite tricks. He claims it never gets old." Aislyn rolled her eyes. "I had better go help my mother. She's going to have a fit with a Gathering in such short notice."

"I shall retire then for tonight. Perhaps in the morning, if you are not too tired, you can explain more about this Gathering?"

Aislyn nodded and went through the door to the kitchens. Lucian made his way upstairs. On the landing, he took a moment to glance back down into the living room, then down the hall to the right where the family bedrooms were. He shrugged off a prickling feeling that kept trying to crawl up his back and wondered as he moved to his rooms and locked the door behind him, what the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Aislyn knocked lightly on Lucian's door around nine the next morning. When he didn't answer, she shrugged and wandered off to find something else to do. She gave him an hour then tried again. There was still no answer. Grinding her teeth she put her ear to the door. She didn't hear anything. How long was he intending to sleep? They had a lot to do today if there was a Gathering that evening.

Aislyn reached down to her belt and pulled a long, thin wire from the inside edge. It was quick work to jigger it open. Stepping into the room, she looked around to no avail. Thinking she would have to drag him out of bed by the ankles, Aislyn frowned when she found the bed unoccupied and the bedding made up. She looked then at the bathroom door.

Under normal circumstances she would not have entered the bathroom of an occupied guest room without knocking first. Aislyn's mind, however, was preoccupied with everything she would have to accomplish in a few short hours and, without really thinking about it, she shoved open the bathroom door and entered.

"What the hell are you doing? Don't you people knock?"

Aislyn's eyes snapped shut and she quickly back peddled out the door, slamming it shut. She could hear him uttering a variety of curses in a few different languages, then the pop of the plug of the tub being pulled. A moment later the door opened and Lucian, dressed in only a towel around his waist, nearly ran into her on his way into his bedroom.

"Get out!" he snapped, pointing to the bedroom door.

Aislyn retreated to the sitting room and plopped onto a couch, her head in her hands. She couldn't help but suppress a giggle at the ridiculous situation. She was still trying to smother her amusement when Lucian came stomping out of the bedroom, buttoning up a clean shirt.

"If you are quite done sniggering over your little peep-show, do you mind telling me why you are in my room uninvited?"

"You don't have to be so harsh," Aislyn defended. "I was preoccupied. It's not like I saw anything."

"That is beside the point. What are you doing here?"

"I don't suppose you brought any dress clothing?"

Lucian blinked. That wasn't exactly what he was expecting her to ask. "Not really. How dressy?"

"Fancy." Aislyn stood from the couch. "I'm not sure about your men but you at least should wear something presentable if you intend to make a good impression on my people."

Lucian pulled a face. "Pointless flashiness."

"Yes, very much so. Shall we?" Aislyn motioned to the door.

"Do I really have much of a choice?" Lucian sighed as he followed her out.

"No." Aislyn chuckled as he swore.

* * *

Lucian was not enjoying himself. He had never been one to care too much about his appearance. He was a wolf and he had lived more or less underground for years. Who did he really have to impress? Something told him that his brother, the true reason he was even in London, wouldn't care what Lucian looked like. These vampires, apparently, did and it was them he had to deal with at the moment.

He spent the day being dragged around by Aislyn to upper crust clothing shops. He was forced to try on outfit after outfit while her credit card whizzed easily through the machines. He tried to argue her spending money on him but she dismissed him immediately. "We'll just call this a business expenses," she had told him curtly, shoving him back into the fitting room with another nice suit. If he tried to argue the point of dressing up in general, she reminded him that they owed them their allegiance due to Nagire and this was part of the deal. He was tempted to remind her that she never mentioned him having to play dress-up but kept his mouth shut out of respect.

It was mid-afternoon when they returned to the complex. Aislyn helped him take the new things up to his rooms and organize them into his closet. As they worked she explained more the purpose of the Gathering.

"It's more of a social event than anything else." She wrinkled her nose as she sorted through a few bags on his bed. "To introduce you officially to the coven and explain why you and your pack are here. It also gives the coven a chance to dress up and try to impress each other." Her lips pressed thinly together.

Taking a few ties from her, Lucian raised his brows. "I take it you're not much into making a good impression."

"As much as I like to look like a gothic Barbie Doll, I'd prefer to spend my time being productive against the Dolls. We're at war for Christ's sake." Aislyn brushed some hair away from her eyes impatiently. "Father only calls Gatherings because it keeps the others happy. He's more like Mother and me. He likes to be out in the field. He's not a diplomat for all he was a king."

"I know the feeling," Lucian admitted honestly putting the last of the jackets in the closet. He helped her clear the bags off the bed and bundle them into the rubbish bin near the door of the sitting room. "I was getting rather tired of sitting in an abandoned subway day after day while my men did all the dirty work. I've always been a fighter. I suppose this war gives me a chance to vent some of my pent up frustrations."

Aislyn shrugged. "Nagire said things have been slow lately. It's hard to say how long it will be until we have a sighting." She glanced at a clock near one of the book shelves. "I'd better start getting ready. As the daughter of the lord, I'm required to attend and look better than everyone else."

Aislyn had gotten as far as twisting the knob on the door when something high pitched and terribly irritating rang in their ears. The blood drained from Aislyn's face as she looked over her shoulder at Lucian. His bewildered expression said he had no clue what the noise meant.

"Get your wolves and meet us in the entry room. Now." She ran out of his room full bore, shoving her way past lycans that had come into the hallway to look for the source of the noise. Lucian exited his room in time to see Aislyn disappear into a room on the family side of the walkway.

"Gear up and get to the entry," Lucian barked, retreating into his room to arm himself. The wolves raced to obey. The small, dark man hurriedly strapped his retractable blades to his forearms, buckled on a few gun holsters, and threw his trench coat on in a matter of moments. He half jogged to the entry to meet the rest of his pack. Within fifteen minutes, everyone had assembled.

Half a minute after the last lycan arrived, Aislyn and Lina rushed in, both armed to the teeth. Aislyn still looked pale but her face was set in a grim, stony stare. She stood next to Lucian as Lina spun at the front doors to address the lycans.

"We have a few operatives that are not vampires. They watch the streets in the daylight. We have reports of Dolls, a lot of them." Was it just Lucian, or could he actually smell fear on the former Hunter. He was getting the same vibe from Aislyn.

"We will be splitting into two groups. Aislyn will lead one – Squad A - with Lucian. The rest of you – Squad B - will follow me and Raze." She shot a look of challenge at the large black man but he said nothing against her orders. She obvious seemed to know what she was doing and they were unfamiliar with these enemies.

"Aim for the heart or between the eyes. Body shots are a waste of time. They do not feel pain and they will not stop until they have been reduced to dust.

"They have been spotted in Windermere Park. Squad A will come in from their rear and attempt to drive them toward Squad B. We will block them in, dispose of them, and hopefully have any witnesses neutralized before word gets out to the local gossip magazines." She turned toward the door and the lycans started to surge after her. She spun back as if remembering something. "And for the love of God, please do _not_ transform in broad daylight! Only morph if there is no other option, am I clear?"

There was a moment of unsure murmurings before Lucian barked over their heads. "Do as told and _move!_ From what I've heard of these Dolls we do not want to dawdle here with our thumbs up our asses. Dubas, choose five others and come with me. The rest, with Raze. Go!"

The men piled into a series of cars that were waiting for them outside the door of the main house. Aislyn took the driver's seat of one of the lead cars, Lucian climbing into the seat beside her. Dubas and one other took the backseat.

"You're quiet," Lucian commented idly, staring out the window as if he wasn't truly interested in what was going on. Aislyn didn't reply, looking grimly at the road before her. Lucian glanced over at her, shifting his body with this attention. "For someone who makes a life out of killing these things, you seem awfully concerned."

"You would be, too, if you knew what was good for you," Aislyn retorted, edgy.

"Mind telling me why so jittery? According to Raze, you faced him at a full charge without a single flinch."

"Dolls don't come out in the sunlight." Aislyn chanced a glance at him before returning them to the road. "We only have the witches keep a look out for odd behavior in case new things develop, such as lycan-Dolls. These are reported to be vampires and, unless you're blind, that's a sun up there shining down on us."

"Daylight vampire Dolls," Lucian repeated letting it sink in. That was serious. If Lina and Aislyn were the only ones known to be able to stand the sun, how had the creators of the Dolls figured out how to do it if real vampires had no clue? He understood now why she was nervous.

"When we arrive at the park," she started as they got closer, "Assemble your men in a line. We don't really want to get separated. Mother said there were a lot but we don't have a definite number. She briefed me a bit while I changed.

"There are humans involved. We also don't know the number of those but the witches say there are fatalities. The Dolls are probably on a reconnaissance mission to gather new fodder." The vampress wrinkled her nose in disgust. "While we travel to our destination, Mother will take her group to the north end. The Witches should have put up barriers around the park by now to deter anyone from wanting to go in there. Any who have already fled should hopefully have been retained by now, their memories altered."

Lucian nodded and popped his knuckles. He saw a few street signs indicating the park was within a kilometer or two. They would be there in less than five minutes. His blood started to pump faster as the promise of a fight hit his endocrine system. If Aislyn had noticed his eyes turn black, she didn't comment.

The car pulled into a parking space. A second vehicle parked beside them. Aislyn vacated her seat and walked to the edge of the grass. She gazed out at an expanse of grass, children's gyms, and flower beds. She frowned at first, not seeing anything of note. Where were they?

Moving across the parking lot, she saw someone standing under a nearby tree. Meeting the woman's eyes, she nodded a greeting. The witched moved out of the shade to meet her halfway to the cars.

"Why is it so quiet?" the vampire demanded without any formality. Lucian was half a step behind her. "Where are they?"

The witch took a moment to gaze at the werewolf, fear-scent wafting off her thickly. Lucian managed to keep a disgusted look off his face, schooling it to a bland expression.

"Darlene," the witch reported once she fixed her eyes back on Aislyn. "She's masking the entire park from view. Once I let you in, you'll see what's going on." The woman looked slightly green. "It's terrible. Children, Aislyn… there were children in the park."

The vampire gripped the woman's shoulder as the witch swayed momentarily. "Well, I'm damn glad Darlene's here then. I half feared she wouldn't be on duty today." The witch nodded agreement. "Have a seat and drink some water. You look like hell. I can let us in, I've worked with Darlene's barriers before."

The witch looked grateful as she lurched past the lycans to the cars they had arrived in. She sat herself on the hood of one and dug a bottle of water out of the backpack she had slung across her back. Lucian saw from the corner of his eye that the young witch's hands were shaking enough to spill some of the water as it moved to her mouth.

Lowering his voice for Aislyn alone, Lucian murmured, "Is she normally that nervy?"

"No. She was one of the first witches to sign on with our plight. She's seen some pretty nasty things in her life." Her voice was strong but Lucian saw the anxiety in Aislyn's eyes as they met. "There is no time to lose. Prepare your men while I open a Gate."

Once Lucian had moved to follow her orders, Aislyn tugged her pentagram-engraved gloves onto her hands. She drew a few designs on an invisible wall at the edge of the grass, muttering as she went. She felt more than saw Lucian move to stand beside her, his men behind him.

Holding both hands palm out at her chest level, she spoke a few words that sounded half choked, half swallowed. A strange prickling filled the air around them then was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"We can walk through the barrier now," Aislyn explained to the confused lycans. "Lina and I will be the only friendly vampires there so everyone else is fair game. They do not feel pain or fear. Mother said no transforming but with Darlene blocking the park, I'm overriding her orders. Do what you must. Just remember they aren't neutralized until their bodies have turned to dust." Aislyn swallowed, squared her shoulders, and passed through the barrier in front of them, disappearing into thin air.

"You have your orders." Lucian followed without hesitation. His pack was loyal, they would do their job without any further urging.

As he passed through the invisible barrier, the lycan was enclosed in a very peculiar feeling. It was like walking straight under a waterfall of ice water but it passed so quickly he was left wondering if he had merely imagined the sensation. Once through, he found himself blinking in shock at the difference in the park now that he saw what was really there.

Aislyn was nowhere in sight when he looked around. What he did see was a chaotic field filled with milling beings with vacant expressions. There were screams in the air and the smell of fresh blood on the wind. With a nod to his men, he took off toward the main area of activity, staying in human form for now.

The twenty or so Dolls he headed for were dragging bodies to a larger pile. Lucian felt his stomach twist slightly at the small size of the corpses. These must have been the children the witch had mentioned. He picked up his speed, hoping perhaps a few of them were still alive.

As he approached, one of the Dolls turned to him and lurched his direction. His eyes were dull and cloudy as if the flesh and membranes had long since died. His jaw was slack; Lucian could see fangs protruding below his bottom lip. Taking a tentative sniff, he smelled vampire on the man as clearly as he smelled it on Aislyn.

It was slow and unintelligent as it ran at the werewolf, hands outstretched as if it intended to grab his prey. Lucian merely sidestepped at the last minute, ramming the hidden blade through the Doll's torso, piercing its heart. The body of the Doll exploded into dust, leaving Lucian coated with a layer of unappealing ash. Before he had a chance to brush himself off, a second Doll grabbed at his arm. The lycan spun and rammed the blade through this one as well.

The Dolls, sensing more people had arrived, turned from the bodies strewn on the grass. Mindlessly, they attacked the war-hardened lycans without a thought to the fact that they were greatly outmatched if not outnumbered. Lucian felt this would be an easy enough fight to win.

The lycan felt a hand grope for his neck and turned to run the Doll through. Another set of hands took hold of his jacket. That one went up in a puff of ash as well. Lucian gritted his teeth as Doll after Doll disintegrated at his hands. It was after he had killed ten or so that he realized there were obviously more Dolls involved in this fight than had been there a moment ago. The swarm pressing in on his men and himself was too preoccupying to contemplate where the others were coming from.

What was a bit more unnerving was that he didn't see anything from Squad B in this particular skirmish. He didn't even see Aislyn fighting beside his men. Logically this meant there must be fighting elsewhere in the park. This worried the pack alpha as there were already so many Dolls swarming all over him and the small 5-wolf troop with him.

The ash was starting to make it hard to breathe. Nearby Dubas screamed and went down under a pile of Dolls. Cursing, Lucian tried to wade through the throng to reach his subordinate but was bogged down as more hands took hold of him. One of his men howled to his left, bones crunching as he grew into full wolf-form and started tearing at the Dolls. A few lost heads but still groped and yanked at the large lycan.

Lucian tried to yell out the instructions to aim for the heart or between the eyes but a Doll exploded in front of him and he inhaled a lung-full of ash instead. Sputtering dangerously, eyes watering, Lucian stumbled to one side into the arms of a Doll. It hissed at him, fangs elongating. Unable to breathe, Lucian tried to back away but it lunged forward, sinking its teeth into his shoulder. The lycan felt his flesh rip as he yanked himself away from it and plunged his dagger through its face.

Rough hands grabbed him from behind and Lucian struggled wildly, mind going into a half panic as he continued to fight for breath against the clouds of dust. He felt himself dragged backwards out of the fighting and into clean air. Sucking in a deep breath, he spun to free himself from the hands and saw a bloody but whole Raze standing there. Coughing, Lucian pointed toward the throng. "Dubas," he forced out. Raze nodded and dived into the fight while his leader gathered himself for another try at the horde. He noticed more of the rest of his pack arriving at the scene, joining the struggle.

There seemed to be more Dolls as well. They were still terribly outnumbered despite the sheer number they kept killing. Where the hell were they coming from? And where were Lina and Aislyn? The sun was starting to set and they still hadn't resolved this.

There was a sound too low to be registered by human ears. Lucian gazed toward the center of the park although it was too far away to see. A sudden gust of wind blasted against Lucian's face and the ground shook beneath his feet. A blinding light flashed across the park and Lucian threw his hands over his sensitive eyes, barring his teeth against the pain of the sudden brightness.

A moment later the park was left in the dusk, an eerie silence stretching across the grass. The Dolls stood in place, their bodies stock still. Unsure, the lycans stood there as well, glancing around in apprehension. Annoyed, Lucian jogged over and ran his daggers through the nearest two Dolls, reducing them to dust. Snapping out of their stupor, the other lycans rushed to do the same. In a matter of moments, the remaining Dolls had vanished into the ever-growing pile of ash on the ground.

Once the last Doll had vanished, the lycans gathered around their alpha. Those who had transformed reduced themselves to normal and started nursing their wounds. Dubas limped over to Lucian, half supported by Raze. The smaller wolf's arm hung limply at this side, his collarbone broken. Everyone was accounted for, although some were worse off than others. Everyone, of course, but the two vampires.

Lucian started toward the center of the park where the noise had come from, suspicious that the two women had something to do with it. Out of the dusty haze of the setting sun and the ash floating in the air, the wolf could see something moving. A light breeze crept up and blew away the wisps of ashy smoke between him and the form beyond it.

"Hey! Give me a hand with this!" Lina called, peering at Lucian as he came into view. She was holding something limp against her hip, half dragging it across the park. She carried the same slim sword in her other arm that she had summoned when Raze had tried to attack her. At that moment she was using it as a walking stick to drag herself and her burden forward.

Hurrying up to the Hunter, Lucian quickly took the form from her. He felt something odd tighten in his stomach when he saw it was Aislyn. She didn't look injured but she sure wasn't conscious. Hefting her up in his arms, he carried her bride-style back to the gathered lycans. Lina limped behind him, still using her sword as a crutch.

"What happened?" Lucian asked as he laid the girl out on a clean spot of grass some distance from the Doll ash and dead bodies.

"Over exertion," Lina explained, dropping down into the grass beside her daughter, her sword sticking unceremoniously out of the dirt beside her. The woman pulled up the leg of her black cargo pants to examine a series of bite wounds ranging up her leg. "Eff'ing Dolls," she spat, watching with a scowl as the wounds very slowly closed over as her natural healing kicked in. Around her lycans were sitting down as well, their own ability to regenerate starting to work. Dubas was flexing his hand as he slowly rotated his shoulder, wincing, while some others wiped blood away from now-healed lacerations.

"What was that…" Lucian searched for a word to describe what turned the tables of the battle.

"Aislyn broke their Gate." Lina dug the heels of her palms into her eyes. Lucian noticed she wore an elbow-length glove over her right hand and arm with similar pentagram designs on it to the gloves Aislyn wore. He made a mental note to ask the younger vampire about it later. "That's why there were so many of them appearing. I've radioed the house. They're sending a relief team to start cleaning things up now that the sun is going down, and to search for any more Dolls that may have escaped our notice. I don't know about you but I sure could use a long, hot bath."

"What about the bodies?" Lucian glanced toward the pile in the distance.

"A sad waste of life," Lina replied dully, gazing down at her daughter as if she was looking through her. "This whole thing will probably be written off as a tragedy involving a broken gas line that exploded, or some other such nonsense. We have a PR team that will plant the seeds of the lie. As operatives, our job is over."

The woman was silent for another moment before reaching over and placing her hand firmly on Lucian's shoulder. "Thank you," she near whispered. "Without you and your pack, we would have failed today. They've never come out at daylight before."

"Aislyn mentioned that," Lucian informed the vampire, slightly uncomfortable at being touched by the infamous Gates Hunter.

"Normally we take a contingent of vampires and Vlad comes, too. You cannot imagine my terror at thinking Aislyn and I would have to fight off these things by ourselves." Lina shook her head, her loose brown hair swaying across her face. In a gesture so similar to Aislyn, she brushed it back and turned her attention back to her daughter. "As soon as the replacements arrive, we'll head back for the house. Are you comfortable enough to drive back? You can drive, yes?"

Lucian leveled the vampire with an annoyed glare. "I'm sure I picked it up somewhere in the last 600 years."

"Good." Lina pointedly ignored his expression and tone. She idly checked Aislyn's pulse and sighed. "She's lucky it didn't kill her," she said softly. "She's like her father: no concept of self preservation. I'm surprised he's lived as long as he has."

Lucian fixed his eyes on the unconscious woman's face, wondering why Lina was revealing all this to him. He was a perfect stranger to her. He didn't voice this, though. Perhaps she would tell him something useful in her chattiness.

The sound of boots tromping grass caused the assembled lycans and Lina to jump to their feet. They relaxed, though, as Nagire came into view. The vampire looked them over then glanced down at his sister and sighed.

"I'm sure you're all exhausted," he said. "We brought a few extras with us that will drive you all home where you may rest and eat. The Gathering, naturally, has been canceled until further notice." He knelt next to Aislyn's body and checked her pulse. Lina huffed slightly as if to tell him they had naturally already done that.

Lucian nodded to his wolves to head for the barrier and, beyond that, the cars. Without asking, he stooped down and swept Aislyn into his arms, settling her comfortably into place. Lina yanked her sword out of the ground, wiped it off on her pants, and then flicked her wrist in a movement so slight Lucian only just saw it. The blade vanished and the symbols on her wrist-guard/glove apparatus pulsed blue once before fading to blackish brown. He would definitely have to ask Aislyn about it when she awoke.

In the cars, Lucian settled Aislyn across the backseat with her head on his thigh. Not having to drive now, he chose instead to make sure she didn't fall off the seat onto the floorboards. Lina sat in the front passenger seat playing with a cell phone for most of the drive.

Vlad was pacing the main living room when the war party arrived. When he saw Aislyn in the arms of the lycan, he openly glared at Lucian. The lycan swallowed and attempted to ignore the cold look in the vampire's eyes.

"She's fine," Lina reassured her husband tiredly. "She used a lot of energy breaking a Gate. Come on, dear. I need a bath and you need to hear about this." Grabbing the lord's hand, she dragged him toward the stairs. The wolves dispersed and Lucian followed the vampires up at a respectful distance. In the car Lina had told him to take her daughter to Aislyn's rooms to recover.

The door to Aislyn's rooms was thankfully unlocked. She had left in such a hurry that locking wasn't an option. He juggled her carefully as he pushed the door open with a hand. It was furnished similar to his although the layout was different and the color scheme more along the lines of blue and purple. He took a moment to orient himself to the unfamiliar surroundings before finding her bedroom and entering. He set her carefully on her bed and took a moment to consider what to do.

The logical side told him to just leave her there. Her mother promised she would be fine with rest. However, she was covered in dirt, blood, and ash. The gentleman in him didn't like the idea of leaving her cold and dirty on her bed, but he wasn't so rude as to disrobe her. He was left with a feeling of indecision he didn't particularly like.

With a grunt of impatience with himself, he started unbuckling her massive combat boots. How the hell had she gotten these on in under fifteen minutes was a mystery to him. He removed her trench coat as carefully as he could, wincing as her head lolled from side to side. Once he had removed that, he searched her for as many weapons as he could, setting them all on a table near the bed.

With some poking around, he found her bathroom attached to her bedroom and a cupboard containing wash cloths. Wetting it down with warm water, he gazed at himself in her mirror, grimacing at how dirty he himself was. "Figures," he grumbled. "I just bathed, too."

Returning to her room, he perched on the edge of her bed and started to wash blood and ash from her face. The pattern of blood indicated she had a laceration somewhere near her hairline. It was gone now, her body healing it over easily enough. Her trench had kept most of the ash off her arms but he cleaned her hands and her neckline the best he could.

Once he had finished with that he went to her bathroom and scrubbed most of the film from his face as well. He was still filthy but at least he felt a little better. He returned to her bedroom and dragged a chair over to her bedside. Picking up an afghan folded hear the foot of her bed, he tucked it around her then sat in the chair. He kicked off his own boots and propped his feet on the edge of the bed. She had nursed him back from near-death not that long ago. He'd be damned if his honor was going to leave her there to wake up cold and alone.

* * *

Aislyn's eyes fluttered open. At first she was confused how she could be staring at the canopy of her bed when the last thing she had seen was a bright flash of light as the Gate imploded upon itself. She heard a very faint rumbling and turned her head slightly to the right. Lucian, chin propped against his chest, arms folded just below that, slept in her arm chair. He was snoring very lightly. Well, that explained how she had gotten there.

She sat up carefully, rubbing her forehead as a sudden ache made itself known. Her movement, however slight, woke the lycan immediately. He sat up, feet slipping off the bed. He looked momentarily as disoriented as she had been before his memory returned. He gazed at her, relief filling him. He didn't show it, however, as he looked her over.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I have some aspirin in my medicine cabinet," she replied, pointing toward her bathroom.

He obediently stood and vanished into the adjoining room. She heard him rummaging for a moment then the sound of her taps before he reappeared with a small, white bottle in his hand. He shook a few out of it and handed them to her, then passed her a tumbler filled with water. He had seen it next to the sink and guessed at its purpose. Aislyn thanked him and downed the offered drugs immediately.

"Better?" Lucian sat in the chair once again.

"It will be in about half an hour." Aislyn set the glass on the nightstand and proceeded to rub her eyes with her knuckles. "Fill me in?" she asked, hands dropping into her lap. She listened quietly as Lucian gave her his side of the fighting and how Lina had shown up afterwards with her unconscious.

"Besides the fact that they were in broad daylight, was this typical of an attack?" he asked when he had finished.

"No." Aislyn sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, pulling a face at how dirty her hair felt. "This was massive by comparison. I can almost guarantee there's going to be a meeting as soon as everyone is rested." She glanced at her clock for a moment, eyes unfocused. "How long was I out?"

"Far as I can tell, about ten hours."

Aislyn nodded. "Tonight, then. Soon as all the officers are awake and have eaten." Aislyn threw the afghan to the side and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, standing experimentally. "I could use a shower, how about you?"

Lucian started for a moment then regained his composure before she saw the lapse. For a brief second he had actually thought it was an invitation. "If you're recovered I'll leave you to it then." He stood from the chair and made his way out of her rooms. As he shut the main door, he heard the water hiss to life in her shower.

"And what do you think you're doing?"

Lucian froze at the dark voice in his ear. The hallway looked deserted but there was a hot breath against the side of his face. He recognized it as Vlad's and swallowed.

"Aislyn is awake now. My plan is to go take a bath," he answered honestly, staring straight ahead at the wood of the young woman's door.

"That doesn't explain why you were in there," the voice continued suspiciously.

Lucian's face turned stony. "Nothing more than what she did for me when I was indisposed. If you'll excuse me." Lucian beat a hasty retreat to his own rooms, locking the door behind him. They may have been of equal rank in their respective clans, but Vlad Tepes scared the shit out of Lucian and he wasn't about to pretend to himself that the man didn't. The fact that he seemed to regard Lucian as a threat to the vampire's little girl just cemented in the lycan's mind that Vlad was a dangerously unbalanced individual.

Lucian made his way to the bathroom, stripping down as he went. He took a moment to examine his shoulder in the mirror, pleased to see no fang marks where the Doll had bitten him. He didn't feel any different, which went along with what Lina had told him on the drive back. He had admitted to her that one of them had latched on and wasn't sure if that was going to be cause for concern. She had reassured him that the Dolls were not virally vampires so he should be fine.

As he let the hot water of the shower run over his tight, sore muscles, Lucian leaned his forehead against the tile. He thought briefly of Aislyn and, unbidden, a thought flittered through his head. What if she had actually been inviting him back there? What would he have done? What would have happened?

Vlad would have murdered him, probably slowly and painfully with a dull spike. But would he have taken her up on the offer? Some part of him thought that perhaps he might have. His sensible side was instantly mortified at the thought of giving in so easily to someone he hardly knew. She was attractive but it was not good for a lycan to be so hasty.

It had taken many years before he had approached Sonja with an offer of Mating. When you lived forever you could not rush into this sort of thing or else be stuck with someone you ended up hating. Wolves, after all, were monogamous creatures that mated for life. It was one trait lycans inherited from their furry ancestors. Only when one's Mate was killed could a wolf choose another.

He hadn't had a mate in 600 years. He had long since suppressed any urges for one. Sonja had meant so much to him that he could hardly imagine life with anyone else. It helped that there weren't any females in his pack. They had deserted him and his pack when the fighting started, claiming they wanted to raise their pups in peace and not get involved in the insanity. Where they had gone he didn't know. Those fighters loyal to him had remained celibate as well.

Growling in frustration at his weakness, Lucian banged his head against the tiles then reached for the shampoo. He shoved such thoughts far from his mind as he scrubbed at his dirty locks. It was a ridiculous train of thought anyway.

* * *

**AN: **That's it for chapter 4. Don't get used to chapters being this long. I had a lot of free time around the New Year in which to write. Hope you enjoyed.


	5. Adrian

**AN: **I wanted to call this chapter **"In Which A Lot of Shit Happens"** but I didn't think that was very appropriate. My husband landed a job and we had an amazing tax return this year. Thus, we splurged and spent a little money on me and we bought a netbook. Now I can take this little portable computer with me and type wherever the urge hits me! This means I have much more time to write than I ever did before since usually I would lament having to handwrite stuff on lunch breaks and have to retype it once I got home. Now that I get to skip a step, I can write more in one go. Yay technology!

For you, the reader, this means you get a 26 page update! Holy crap.

Addtional: I've reloaded this chapter after smacking my head against the wall a few times. I got my locations a little confused and realized I had typed the wrong country a few times... stupid author!

**Additional Additional: **After re-reading this, there were a few parts I was not pleased with during the hunt for Adrian. I have amended them. Nothing major but it is basically an omission of information I had actually already covered and thought redundant upon re-reading. Thanks. ~Ly

**Chapter Five: Adrian**

Lucian looked up from his book at the light rapping on his door. He checked a clock hung near the hearth and noted it was well after midnight. Standing, he set his book on the coffee table and went to greet his late night visitor. Pulling the door open a bit, he was pleased to see Aislyn on the other side, hand poised to knock again.

"Feeling better?" he asked quietly as she let her arm drop.

"Considerably," she replied with a nod. "Sorry to interrupt but the meeting has been called and Father has requested that you and the men you consider your officers attend." The way she said 'requested' left little doubt that Lucian had no choice in the matter. "Gather them and meet me downstairs in five minutes?" He nodded his affirmative and watched her walk away down the hall and disappear down the stairs.

It took him little time to locate Raze and Dubas. With his lackeys in tow, the lycan wasted little time going down the stairs to meet the vampress. She stood near the stairwell at one of the large, double doors the lined that side of the sitting room. Without a word, she led them into the room and the noise that it contained.

Some twenty vampires were standing around a long table just beyond the doors. They milled noisily amongst one another, chattering away like excited birds. No one was sitting on the long, wooden benches that lined the table. As the meeting obviously hadn't started yet, Lucian took a moment to survey the meeting room.

The walls were plastered with posters of maps outlining more or less the entirety of London and the surrounding areas. There were a series of colorful pins jabbed into every poster. He guessed it was probably color-coding and moved to take a closer look.

"Red are attacks," Aislyn supplied over his shoulder. "White are our daytime agents' usual positions. Blue are our nighttime positions." She fingered a line of yarn between the blue pins. "Those are our patrol routes. The white yarn is for the witches."

Lucian reached out and touched a few brown pins curiously. "And these?"

"Possible locations for lycan packs. Nothing is confirmed, though." Aislyn sighed and shrugged helplessly. "We don't have many people to spare to go looking for them so those are only rumored dens."

Lucian nodded his understanding. "Yellow?" He looked at another cluster of pins in askance.

"Possible Doll sightings by the public. Any time we hear anything suspicious, we mark it as a possible future sight of conflict and include it in our patrols." She pointed to the blue yarn that ran near the yellow pins.

"Ah." Lucian glanced around at the assembled vampires again, wondering when the event would get underway. Everyone seemed edgy and kept looking over at a door on the far side of the room Lucian had noted when he first walked in. "Where does that door lead?" He nodded toward the door to indicate what he meant.

"To one of my father's studies. He usually comes in that way and we can't start until he arrives. He should be here soon, though. We should probably sit down."

As if to emphasize her words, the door suddenly swung open and Lina walked in. Vlad was close behind her. The woman took a quick look around the room and sighed heavily, the single sound dripping with annoyance. "The chairs are being refurbished and won't be back until next week. No one is going to die from a splintery bench. Sit."

The gathered officers reluctantly started to squeeze themselves onto the benches. Lucian hid his amusement as he watched them gingerly sit as if afraid the bench would bite them. Aislyn touched his arm lightly and indicated he should follow her to a place on the bench near the head of the table where her parents stood. Aislyn sat herself on the furthest edge and patted the bench to her left in an invitation. Lucian took it and sat himself between her and Raze. It was a tight fit and he found himself very aware of the fact that if he were sitting any closer to the woman, he would be on her lap. She didn't seem to notice their close proximity, however, and had her attention fixed on Vlad.

Slowly, the room quieted as everyone found their seats and waited for their lord to start the meeting. He cleared his throat lightly once silence had fallen and gazed out at his commanders with very grave red eyes.

"I am sure you have heard through the grapevine what happened yesterday afternoon and evening," he started, hands folded behind his back. "But in the chance that perhaps you haven't, Lina will hold a quick briefing." He looked to his wife who stood at his side. Her expression mirrored his as she walked to a map that contained a very large assortment of red dots: Windermere Park. She outlined what everyone saw and what had happened. A few of the vampires paled further than their usual pasty pallor but it was no surprise to any of them after hearing the rumors spreading throughout the complex.

"Thank you," Vlad murmured once she had finished. His eyes turned to Lucian, drawing the attention of everyone else in the room. The wolf didn't look around but he could feel the twenty sets of eyes fixed on his face. "I would like to take a moment to extend to our guests my most sincere gratitude. This attack would have been more devastating than we could imagine if it were not for our new allies." Vlad dipped his head in a quasi-bow that Lucian mirrored, accepting the thanks. "This, more than anything, has emphasized our need to bring the lycans into the fight."

Vlad started pacing as he spoke and the gathered vampires and three lycans watched him with anticipation. "It is now apparent that we must find the dens sooner rather than later. It is our luck that Lucian is among us now." He stopped pacing abruptly and looked at the lycan again. "Do you know where your brother is?" he asked bluntly.

"Unfortunately, no." Lucian's lips were thin. "But I can almost bet I can find him given the proper maps." His green eyes flicked to the brown pins on a variety of maps. "Any intelligence your people have on his whereabouts may be helpful in tracking him down."

"And do you think he will listen to you?" Vlad pressed.

At that, Lucian's eyes narrowed. "I'm not planning on giving him much of a choice." He left it at that and wasn't inclined to elaborate. Thankfully, the master of the house didn't press that particular issue.

"When will your men be ready to start the hunt?" he asked instead.

"As soon as they can be briefed I will send my men out. After yesterday, I'm as eager to end this conflict as you are. I am, however, not familiar with London's layout."

"You will need a guide that can be out at day should your searching take you beyond a single night. Lina will accompany you then." Vlad turned to his wife and opened his mouth to speak when Aislyn beat him to it.

"I should be the one to go," she cut in. "Mother is needed here in case an attack is launched during the day again."

"Out of the question." The father frowned at his daughter, red eyes sharp. "It would be too dangerous for you."

"Dangerous?" Aislyn's own red eyes narrowed. "I just spent the last few months infiltrating a foreign coven of Virals and was involved in a full-on raid of the den of one of the most notorious lycans. How can this be more dangerous than that? We are not at war with the London packs. The most dangerous thing that can happen is that they will tell me I will have to wait outside."

"That is a terrible understatement and you are quite aware of that," Vlad shot back. There was an almost palatable tension in the air as the counsel watched father and daughter pitting their wills.

"I think she's right," Lina finally interjected, breaking the stare-down that was developing. "Not about the lack of danger, but about her being the proper choice." Lina laid her hand on Vlad's arm and squeezed it gently. "My presence will only cause panic among the packs. They would be suspicious. Aislyn has a much better chance of passing herself off as a full vampire. Her Hunter blood isn't as strong. They would know me for what I was before they even saw me."

Vlad seemed to struggle internally for a long moment. He was apparently a very passionate man and, as such, didn't hide his feelings very well. He wasn't happy about this but saw the wisdom in his wife's reasoning and finally gave in. "Very well. Aislyn will be your guide. Now, on to the matter of daylight Dolls…"

The meeting proceeded with an aching slowness that Lucian found grating. If he had to find his brother and bring Adrian into this war, he wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible. All the democratic deliberation in the room was driving him up the wall. It would be terribly rude of him to leave in the middle of the discussion, however, so he sat idly and tried to focus on the war efforts being outlined before him. He considered taking notes with the provided pad of paper and pencil in front of him but really wasn't that interested in the theory behind the creation of the Dolls.

Finally Vlad called an end to the gathered officers and everyone stood awkwardly from the benches. Lucian stepped over his portion of bench as carefully as he could but his pant leg caught a rough spot and he found himself pitching forward dangerously. He bumped into Aislyn, who had successfully navigated herself away from the bench moments before. She caught a hold of him and they stumbled backwards, bumping into a few of the officers who were trying to leave the room.

Aislyn murmured a hasty apology as she and Lucian righted themselves. They made the mistake of making eye contact and the lycan felt the corners of his mouth tug upward involuntarily. She giggled, covering her mouth with a hand as they made their way out of the room. Lucian saw a brief frown flicker across Vlad's features before the werewolf walked from the room with the lord's daughter. He wasn't sure if it was because of the physical contact between the two or for the lycan's clumsiness. Lucian silently hoped it was more due to the clumsiness.

Once outside, Lucian turned to Raze and Dubas. "I want you to assemble the men and meet me in the kitchen in about a quarter hour. If we are to go out I want everyone well fed before hand. Once there we can figure out a plan of attack for this adventure of ours." The two men nodded and moved quickly up the stairs. He turned to Aislyn once the others had vanished. "Where do you suggest we start?"

The woman thought carefully for a moment. "Well, as you saw from the maps there are many rumored dens dotted throughout London. I'll get a few maps and meet you in the kitchen. I have a decent idea of where we will have the most luck but nothing can be certain until we're actually looking another lycan in the face."

True to her word, it took Aislyn only a few moments to locate the maps and spread them out on one of the large kitchen tables. "Knowing what I know of your kind, Adrian will need a large den full of honeycomb tunnels and secret passages to evade the Hunters and house his pack. Our intelligence has told us that he commands a significant number of wolves, including women and children. Having to protect pups means it will need to have fortress-like defenses so the Hunters can't get in and kill the whole group. They may have some protective spells laid out, contracted from some witches. None of ours have admitted to helping the lycans but we only have a small number of covens allied with us and there are a lot of witches in this area." Aislyn ran her pointer finger over the map, lips pursed for a moment.

"I think we should start looking here. There are catacombs under here that date back into the dark ages. Back when the Black Death swept across Britain, huge tombs were constructed that now lay under the city to house the dead in huge group graves. It wouldn't take much to clear them out and connect them together into a sizable system of tunnels. Plus there is an old abandoned Underground near by as well that would be a great access point to a possible den, similar to where you were held up for so long." Aislyn paused for a moment while Lucian's pack filed into the room. They glanced at their leader who motioned for them to gather their dinner. He turned his attention back to the woman and motioned for her to continue.

"Plus," she began once more, "There is a park here." She jabbed her finger at a large, green splotch on the map. "And some of our daytime operatives thought they saw some women and children that looked suspiciously wolfish. I've never caught any there but it could be close enough to a den to allow the pups to play at the park and get fresh air in relative safety."

"That does make sense. We never had pups, or females, at our den," he admitted. "So looking for suitable family-friendly locations was never a concern of ours." Lucian paused as if considering his words. "There is one thing that doesn't make much sense to me that perhaps you could clarify. I heard that you have tried reining the packs into this fight before. If you've spoken with Adrian why can you not find him?"

Aislyn sighed at this and rubbed her forehead. "Prearranged meeting places throughout the city. He has never allowed us into his den but has met with our operatives in back alleys."

"Ah. Are there any other areas that are good candidates for search?" Lucian asked, getting right back down to business now that his curiosity was satisfied.

"Only one other that I would suspect, personally. Here, further south, near the river. There are a series of abandoned warehouses with extensive storage under ground. The buildings themselves could support a large population of lycans. No one goes there; everything is blocked off with locked fences and barbed wire. We can't seem to find out who owns the buildings and, given our ability to find out what we need, that itself is suspicious."

"No one has broken in?" Lucian frowned. "That doesn't make it seem like your people are trying very hard."

"Only recently have we been trying to find the lycans' dens," Aislyn countered. "It was maybe three months ago that we first started to see the lycan Dolls mixed in with the vampires. We only have so many members of our community here, very few can be spared to find your brother's den. Plus if we found his home what good could it have done? I truly doubt he is going to listen to us there any more than he listened to us on the streets."

"I can't guarantee that I will do much good, either." Lucian looked up as Raze offered the pack leader a sandwich stuffed with meat. He nodded his thanks and took a bite.

"Aren't you older?" Aislyn asked, plopping herself into a nearby chair while he ate.

"Yes, by about twenty years." Lucian sat as well to finish his food. Around them other lycans were finding perches and mowing down piles of food.

"Then doesn't that give you seniority?"

Lucian sighed and regarded her carefully across the map. "Normally it may have, but this is England, not Hungary. Any wolf I run into in Eastern Europe may acknowledge me as their rightful ruler, but England has always been a little… spiky toward us. Something tells me it may be due to Adrian now that I know he's the one in charge around here. Even if I don't persuade Adrian, I may be able to turn some of his pack to me, though. We won't know anything until we find them." He shrugged.

"Then we had better get started as soon as possible." Aislyn leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.

"I agree." Lucian glanced at his pack. They were licking their fingers and wiping their mouths on their sleeves. The alpha rolled his eyes at them and shook his head. "Living underground has lost them all their manners," he muttered under his breath. Aislyn smirked but said nothing.

"Dubas," Lucian continued once the wolves had noticed he was waiting for their attention. "I want you to take half of our men to the warehouses and see what you find there. Get directions from Aislyn before you go. If you find anything make sure you call me before you move in. I don't want any casualties if it can be helped. Aislyn will come with the rest of us to the catacombs. If we find anything we will call you. Once we have our full force together we will move in. If we find nothing, we try again tomorrow at new locations. Go."

There was a flurry of movement while Dubas checked his directions with the vampire and the others went to gather their weapons and meet in the entry hall. With any sort of luck this would be the only time they had to divide their numbers.

* * *

The Underground was decently busy when Lucian's group arrived that morning. Many humans were on their way early to work and the lycan wondered if perhaps they should have waited until mid-morning when fewer people would be about. It was too late now, though. They might as well continue since they had already arrived.

The platform roared to life briefly as a train docked. People scurried everywhere, no one paying much attention to the six men and one woman loitering near the far end of the platform. The train pulled away, taking most of the people with it. The group watched the attendants unobtrusively, waiting for the most opportune moment to sneak off down the tracks. The moment arrived when an elderly lady approached one of the attendants and started asking for directions to some far-off and hard to find point. Soon she had managed to ensnare the other attendants into her wild-goose chase and the group of immortals hopped onto the tracks and raced off into the tunnel.

"And that is why it helps to know witches," Aislyn murmured to Lucian as they hugged the wall of the tunnel, looking for the proper off-shooting tunnel that service technicians used.

"I never doubted," the lycan replied. "It was lucky she was around."

"Sue usually has this route on Tuesdays. I was nearly certain she would be around to lend a hand. Ah, here we are." Aislyn dodged down a passage to her right, followed quickly by the lycans. Somewhere behind them a train thundered by. The tunnel led to another rail and they followed it for a short while before entering yet another service passage on the far side.

The next set of tracks they reached had a definite disused feel to them and the lycans became instantly on guard. Lucian sniffed the air lightly, frowning. Next to him, Aislyn did the same.

"Lycans have been here recently," he whispered, holding up a hand to signal the others to be as quiet as possible. "Spread out but stay within sight of each other. Find which way the scent is moving. Report back as soon as you find out. Go." The pack hurried to obey while the leader and the vampire glanced around with eyes and ears sharpened. There was little to no light in the tunnel but that didn't matter to either being.

A movement to their left brought Aislyn's weapons instantly to her hands. She relaxed when she saw it was only the second-in-command. For a giant black man, he moved without making the slightest noise.

"It moves South," he reported in his gravelly voice. The other wolves soon gathered around their leader, listening to Raze's words. "Disappears into a large drainage grate not far from here. The smell gets weaker past there as far as I can tell. Dirty passageway, smells like sewer."

"Show us." Lucian's pack followed the large man to the indicated grate off the side of the tracks. A faint but no less unpleasant odor emanated from the hole. "Lovely." Lucian took a firm hold of the metal and lifted. It moved smoothly without a single noise of complaint. It was well used.

The alpha dropped into the darkness first, followed by Aislyn. They landed with a slight splash into ankle-deep liquid that neither wanted to contemplate for too long. The two moved out of the way as the rest of the lycans followed. Raze brought up the rear and closed the grating above them as the ceiling was well within his reach.

The large lycan had been correct when he said the scent weakened through the hole. The watery substance they stood in overpowered the smell of wolf. Lucian turned his fully dilated eyes to the woman with them. "You found me half dead in my own stronghold," he started. "Any chance you can work something similar here?"

Aislyn thought for a moment then tugged at the wrist of her glove. "Let me try something. Give me your hand." Lucian held out the limb and hissed as Aislyn brought it quickly to her lips and bit down hard. He pulled it away as soon as she released him and watched as she spat his blood onto each of the pentagrams on the back of her gloves.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching the symbols glow a faint red as they absorbed the blood.

"Adrian is your blood brother, right? I may be able to track him using your blood, although it might get confused since you're in much closer proximity." Holding her hands up she repeated a similar incantation to the one she used to find Lucian and waited while the symbols on her gloves pulsed sporadically. The woman frowned, uttered another command, and waited with barely contained impatience for the gloves to come to a decision.

"Well?" Lucian asked she dropped her hands.

"They can't seem to agree," she explained a bit weakly. "Which means we aren't yet close enough to Adrian. The spell senses something but I won't get a better reading until we're a lot closer."

Lucian sighed inwardly but didn't express his displeasure. "Let's get out of the muck then and try again. Perhaps we can zero in on him based on the relative strengths of the spell in different locations?"

Aislyn nodded and looked first one direction along the tunnel then the other. The gathered lycans glanced around as well.

"Which way?" Raze finally asked, eyes all turning to their alpha, which in turn was looking to Aislyn for guidance.

"You're the local. Which way do you propose we go?" Lucian asked when no one made a move.

The woman put her hand to her chin, thinking hard and attempting to orient herself. Finally she pointed down the tunnel to her right. "If we are where I think we are that way should lead to a large catacomb. If this is a main thoroughfare for the local lycans we should eventually find a passage that will lead out of the gunk and into the tombs."

Ignoring the vile liquid the best they could, the group trouped down the passageway keeping their eyes and ears alert for any signs that they were not alone. Nothing showed itself and no one detected any additions to their gathering. Aislyn left the spell on her glove active while they moved in case they became close enough to Adrian to trigger a reaction.

True to her thoughts, a passage soon opened to their right, raised above the level of the water. It was dry and inviting after the brief but soggy slog. They gratefully stepped up onto the path and moved down it quickly to get away from the terrible smell that stung their sensitive nostrils. A few moments later, Lucian stopped and held up a hand to halt their progress. He sniffed the air carefully for a moment then looked at their token vampire.

"Try it again?" he asked indicating her gloves.

Aislyn barked out the command and watched the pentagrams flicker and glow. She slowly turned in a circle, watching closely as the strength of the reaction varied. Finally she stopped and pointed through a wall. "Eventually we need to head that way."

"Are you sure?" Lucian looked over her shoulder at the gloves as if he had any idea how to read them.

"Unless you're standing a few miles beyond this point, yes I'm positive. We should probably send for the rest of your pack." Aislyn dropped her hands as Lucian pulled out a cell phone. He fiddled with it for a moment before looking up at his pack.

"Does anyone have service?" There was a flurry of movement while the others checked their phones. A chorus of "no's" followed quickly. Lucian frowned and glanced around the dark but dry tunnel while he made up his mind. It wasn't the most comfortable place to rest but he didn't really want to go all the way back to wait for the others when they had come so close. Finally he turned to one of the lower ranked members of his pack.

"You have Dubas' number? Go back up the tunnel to the Underground. As soon as you have service, call them and tell them to meet you there. Lead them here. We will continue on for a bit and send someone back to this point to wait for you when we find a comfortable place to rest or Adrian, whichever come first. If no one is here when you arrive, you will wait. Am I clear?"

The lackey nodded and, without hesitation, took off toward the oozing tunnel and the grate beyond. Lucian turned back to Aislyn and stared into the darkness a head of them. "Whenever you are ready then." They continued on.

* * *

The room was well lit with lamps that looked like they belonged in a coal mine. Crates sat around in some semblance of order against the walls, inviting the lycans and their vampress to sit. It smelled strongly of wolf and there was only one other passageway leading out of it beside the one they had entered through. Lucian sent another of the pack to wait for Dubas' group and ordered the rest to take a load off while he, Aislyn, and Raze held conference a little further down the other hallway, out of ear shot of the other four remaining.

"What are you impressions?" he asked without preliminaries as they leaned against the walls of the dimly lit passage. A few lamps were glowing further down.

"Suspicious," Aislyn murmured quietly. She watched the lamps like a hawk as if she expected to see a lycan appear under the light at any moment.

"I have to agree with the Hunter," Raze graveled, although his expression clearly stated he that he didn't like the idea of her being right.

"Can you sense any lycans?" the leader asked. He, too, kept his eyes on the distance.

"You two are in too close a proximity to me. All I can sense is you."

"I smell lycan but only traces. No one is nearby," Raze confirmed.

"Precisely my thoughts. So where are they? The lights are on, the scent is fresh. I don't like how quiet it is." Lucian folded his arms and planted his booted sole flat against the wall he leaned on. "If we were being observed or followed, we would smell them." He looked briefly at Aislyn's profile, her face half-lit by the flickering lamps. It was a lovely scene but he had no time to dwell on it. "Are you still tracking?"

She glanced at her gloves and nodded. "It is stronger here. We're going the right way, if only generally. We should go a little more to our left, though, as soon as we can. What time is it?"

"Sometime after noon. It was just past eleven when I sent Thomas to call Dubas." Lucian returned his gaze to the distant lamps, feeling slightly reluctant at pulling his eyes away from the woman. "Given how far away the warehouse is from here, how long do you suppose it will take for Dubas to arrive?"

"Hopefully not more than an hour but it may depend on how long it takes to avoid the attendants on the platform."

Lucian mused for a moment. He wanted to get moving and find where this pack was. According to Aislyn's spell – and he trusted her to know what she was doing – they were heading toward his brother and not some other pack. Even if it was a different pack, they would be able to lead Lucian to Adrian. Aislyn had told him that his brother was the King of the packs of London, not just a single pack. Any den they uncovered would be allied to him and would know his whereabouts, or at least the whereabouts of his primary pack.

Going forward toward the pull of Aislyn's spell, though, would mean spreading his pack even thinner. He would have to send another runner back to find the first one and so on creating a trail of living bread crumbs. He had so few men with him and wasn't comfortable breaking them apart even further. He silently cursed Viktor's dead body again for the raid that left his numbers so few.

"I think we should wait here for the others." Raze's deep voice broke into the leader's thoughts. "It is so quiet; Dubas should reach us before anything happens."

"You're probably right. It will give the men time to eat, too. Go and pass my orders."

Raze hesitated for a moment. "What of you?"

"I wish to remain here for now. Go and rest. I need you at your fullest incase things get unfriendly." Lucian cast an annoyed look at his lingering second. "I will call you if I need my nappy changed."

Raze flinched at the sarcastic tone and beat a hasty retreat. Lucian could hear the grating voice bark orders to the other lycans and the sound of zippers being pulled as they dug into their knapsacks to get the lunch they had packed. He turned his eyes back to the distant lamps, occasionally glancing over at the vampress that leaned on the wall opposite him. It seemed like they may be there for a while and a well of questions chose to bubble to the surface of his mind. Perhaps now he had time to finally get some answers.

"I must admit," he started softly, watching her profile contentedly in the dimness. "Apart from commanding silver, I do not know much about the magic of the Hunters. I was playing dead for most of the history of your kind."

Aislyn looked over at him, half of her face lit and half in darkness. It reminded him of a harlequin doll he had seen once. "Hunters do not often leave lycans alive enough to repeat what they saw."

"Which peaks my curiosity," he admitted.

"Perhaps you should have been born a cat and not a dog," she quipped back, the corners of her lips twitching at her own joke.

"Perhaps I should have." Lucian brushed a stray strand of dark hair away from his eyes. "But I wasn't and I still have questions if you're willing to share with me."

Aislyn blinked once and looked back up the hall. "As we will be working closely together it may make things easier if you know more about what goes on around you."

"How did you control Raze's body?" he asked bluntly as soon as her consent was given. "He spoke of an inability to do anything but speak his mind. His body moved at solely your command. That is not ordinary witch-magic."

"It used to be," Aislyn said softly. "Long ago, when my kind were first branching off of the more traditional covens, the ability to throw one's control into another person was doable by anyone with enough willpower. Years have bred it out of most witches. Hunters, however, found it a terribly useful tool and have turned it into a very powerful weapon against their enemies. It is still a difficult spell to master but not unheard of in the Hunter clans that still possess the abilities of my ancestors."

Lucian mulled that over for a minute. It made sense enough. "Similar to the silver control?" he asked next, feeding off the previous question to get to the main point he actually wanted to speak about.

Aislyn nodded almost absently, although he knew better than to think she wasn't paying close attention to everything around her. "It is believed, and I'm inclined to agree, that Hunters are descended from a very specialized group of witches. They cultivated the ability to manipulate silver to aid the killing of the wolves. It takes a tremendous amount of concentration, but I can move silver spatially. Drawing it through your body was about the only thing I could think of to save your life."

"So if you were given a vial of liquid silver, you could send it flying?"

"I suppose but it would be difficult for me. My mother was never very accomplished in silver manipulation so I was taught mainly the basics. There are other Hunters who are more proficient with it and could do what you said. I would probably be torn to pieces by my target lycan before I managed it, though." Aislyn shrugged. "My family line has other, more effective, means."

"Lina's mystery sword," Lucian murmured. "Tell me about that."

Aislyn's eyes narrowed slightly at the werewolf's commanding tone. When she said nothing, he caught her eyes and realized what he had done. "If you please," he added with a bit of chagrin. "I apologize; I have become too accustomed to having to order my pack around."

"It is a very old blade," Aislyn started, his apology smoothing her feathers. "Older than the Hunters. It was crafted back in the day of my father and bound to the arm guard Mother wears. I'm sure you saw it in the park." He nodded. "The engravings on her guard link to a sort of nether where the blade is housed. It is thought too powerful to be in our world for too long at any time. Only those symbols allow her to control it and bend it to her will."

"How did it come into her hands?" Lucian suspected he knew the answer but had to ask.

"My father found it in some junk-filled attic many years before he met my mother. I don't know if he recognized the symbols on the guard for what they were but they intrigued him and he took it home. He researched it but was never able to master the blade. Once my mother arrived, he gave it to her. The blade may be older than the Hunters, but it was eventually mastered by them and was, for a very long time, passed down through the generations of Hunters. It reacted to my mother, chose her if you will."

A prickling feeling started to creep up Lucian's neck as he listened to her describe the silver-coated blade. He had a very sinking feeling he knew now what it was and almost didn't dare to ask but that damnable curiosity of his needed to be satisfied. "Animus Gladius." Aislyn nodded and they lapsed into silence, both watching the lamps in the distance with their own thoughts.

Animus Gladius: The Sword of the Souls. Lucian had heard of it before. It had been used for centuries in a number of historical uprisings. No one really agreed where it came from or when it was made but it was not a blade to be trifled with. Supposedly it had caused the fall of Rome, sparked the Crusades, and even sunk Atlantis. Lycans world wide were afraid it would one day be the last thing they saw. There was a reason there were no lycans in Russia until very recently. Hundreds of years ago, some Russian Hunter had single handedly killed each and every one using a sword claimed to be the Animus blade. Although Lucian doubted the blade had really been involved in Rome, the Crusades, or Atlantis, he had very little reservation that it had slaughtered every adult lycan and pup in Russia. He wasn't able to suppress a shudder at the memory of hearing the grim news from refugee lycans fleeing into Hungary.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side, then," Lucian half-joked.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Mother's abilities with it are mostly of a physical combative nature. I know there are stories about it doing powerful things but none of us have been able to unlock such power. I'm not sure it would be a good idea, anyway, to unleash the full potential of Animus. Mother tends to agree and is happy to merely call it from hiding during our skirmishes."

Lucian saw the wisdom in that and nodded more to himself than to her. It did make sense to be cautious with a potentially dangerous object such as the Animus blade. He was, however, still glad to be on the same side of the conflict as the wielder.

Both lycan and vampire snapped to sudden attention as a noise echoed down the long corridor they stood in. They glanced at each other and Lucian jerked his head back toward the storage room. Aislyn agreed silently and they retreated. Once back with the pack, Lucian gave orders barely above a whisper. The remaining lycans found places behind crates to hide while Lucian took up position against the wall beside the doorway. Aislyn perched on top of a crate on the other side of the door. Whoever it was would not see them until they were well within the room.

It wasn't long before the foot steps became audible in the small room, bouncing off the stone walls and making it difficult to tell how many feet were making the noise. Shortly after, a woman hardly larger than a girl jogged into the room.

She looked young. Her eyes were bright green, her hair a dirty blond. It was cut short, like a boys, but she was obviously female. Her jeans and denim jacket were well-worn but very clean, as were her face and hands. She smelled so strongly of wolf it was obvious she was lycan. The moment she stepped into the room she was on immediate alert and the tension was almost palatable. It smelled of strangers.

"Hullo." Lucian's low voice cut across the stillness of the room and the young woman spun on her heel to gape at the two figures by the door she had just stepped through. Lucian had moved to stand in the way of her exit, Aislyn stayed on her perch, red eyes piercing in her best attempt to look imposing. It worked. The new lycan took a few hasty steps backwards into the waiting hands of Raze. His fingers touched his thumbs as he gripped her upper arms.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded in a voice that squeaked with her fear. She swallowed a few times and tried again, managing to keep her voice from breaking again. "You're trespassing on the lands of the Pack of Adrian. What den are you?"

"My name is Lucian," the man replied softly as if he hadn't noticed the fear-scent wafting off her. He saw her eyes widen a fraction but ignored that, too. "Most recently I hail from London, but Budapest before that. With whom am I speaking?"

"Tri-" her mouth went dry. "Trina."

Lucian walked forward, away from the door. Although there was no chance of Trina escaping from Raze's grip, Aislyn hopped down from her crate and took up his position by the door. The lycan-woman's eyes followed the vampire's movements.

"You brought a vampire," the woman said blankly.

"She's quick," Aislyn muttered not-so-under her breath. Lucian did not bother to respond to his companion's snarky comment.

"It's daytime," the girl continued, her confusion evident.

"Getting quicker by the minute," Aislyn snorted from behind the alpha.

"Tell me, girl," Lucian said in a rather charming voice, refusing to acknowledge Aislyn's derisive comments. "Is my brother home today?"

Trina nodded mutely.

"Will you take me to him?"

Again, the woman nodded as Raze squeezed her arms slightly. "You're supposed to be dead, though," she argued weakly.

"Do I look dead?" Lucian was only about a foot away from her now and he could see the white of her eyes as she stared up at him.

"No," she whimpered, pressing back into Raze's chest a little. "He won't be happy to see you," she added.

"Then he and I are on equal terms." Lucian lifted his eyes from hers to gaze behind Raze for a moment. "Ah, good. You have excellent timing, Dubas. We have found ourselves a guide."

The lanky Dubas and his crew spread out amongst the other lycans. The third to Lucian looked down at the woman with a bit of curiosity. "Who is she?"

"Well, if my senses are correct, and I do believe they are, she is my niece." He turned his head to Aislyn, who spoke a few words and held her gloves out. They throbbed.

"Or some other relation," she confirmed. "You share blood but not as strongly as with Adrian." Eyes turned again to Trina, who stared back with eyes so similar to Lucian's it was uncanny.

"He's my grandfather," she supplied meekly. "On my mother's side."

"Then we'd best not keep your grandfather waiting. Lead on, my child." Lucian took her arm from Raze and walked her to Aislyn. "If you would be so kind?"

Aislyn nodded and lifted her right hand. With a blurred motion, she drew something in the air and barked a command. Raze frowned at the familiar motion and Trina went rigid. Lucian released her as Aislyn held up a fist and looked down at the shorter woman. "Adrian. Now."

Unable to resist the command despite how hard her eyes betrayed her attempts, Trina stalked off down the corridor, Aislyn and Lucian walking side by side a step behind. The others followed, Raze and Dubas bringing up the rear.

"That's what she did when you were trying to strangle me?" Dubas asked the larger lycan in an undertone. "Scary shit." Raze merely nodded, his jaw clenched at the bad memory. "Good thing she's on our side," Dubas added, unaware that he had voiced the same thoughts his alpha had been having not too long before.

* * *

"Why is it so quiet?" Lucian asked as they passed through yet another large but unoccupied room. They further into the labyrinth they went, the more used the chambers seemed to be. Yet, like the store room they had rested in, there was no sign of occupants as they walked by.

At first Trina refused to answer. Aislyn twisted her grip a little and the woman-lycan winced at the unpleasant feeling shooting through her body. "Tonight is the full moon," she gritted out as if that was answer enough. Lucian nodded imperceptibly to Aislyn, who repeated the twist. "Every full moon the leaders of the dens come to pay homage to the King and hold a counsel."

"Then we picked a very good time to show up, didn't we?" Lucian smirked at their good luck. Although he wasn't looking forward to speaking with his brother – and the notion of having the other den alphas present did not make things any easier – perhaps he could use it to his advantage. Adrian would know him for who he was so there would be no doubt amongst the other alphas that Lucian was alive. He had enough of a reputation from years of warring with Viktor's lycans throughout the centuries that there was a chance that some of the dens would sway to his side, ignoring any loyalty to Adrian they may have once had. Notoriety had its bonuses.

"How much further?" Aislyn asked softly, breaking into Lucian's thoughts. They had been weaving through the tunnels and chambers for nearly three quarters of an hour.

"One more room before the Great Hall," Trina replied without any "encouragement" from Aislyn. She had become increasingly wary of the vampire that was able to control her very movements. Her grandfather had told her about the wars waged in Europe against Viktor's vampires and how he had fled North with his family and a small pack of werewolves, escaping the fighting they wanted no part in. Although they had made a truce with the vampires found here – both parties tended to ignore each other so truce was assumed – Trina had not forgotten the stories of cruelty and enslavement Adrian had told. The London packs were not aware that the vampires they dealt with were far from the ones Adrian had run from all those years ago.

True to her words, the small group emerged into a high vaulted chamber larger than any they had encountered before. It looked like a mausoleum long since cleared out. Although it was empty like so many other rooms they had come though, it was obviously a well trafficked area. Despite the gloomy, crypt-like atmosphere, the lycans had turned it into a rather comfortable common room. There were old couches, chairs, rugs, lamps, tables and knick-knacks everywhere in a disorganize chaos that just seemed to work. The stone alcoves that once held bodies were now filled with potted plants, jars of miscellaneous things, chess sets, children's toys and treasures, and even a small, old lap dog that snored quite loudly for its small size and was completely oblivious to the intruders. It felt homey and Lucian rather liked it.

Multiple corridors led off of the main room in all directions but they headed to the far right hand side of the long room to where a large door was placed into the wall. It looked foreboding compared to the openness of the rest of the room and Lucian didn't have to guess what was currently beyond.

Without hesitation, Trina grabbed the iron ring that served as the handle and pulled back. The door swung easily on its well-oiled hinges. A noise hit the group that could only be the sound of many lycan voices yammering at once. The silence that swept over the Great Hall was palatable as Lucian and his crew walked through the door and into the chamber. The eldest lycan cast a quick look around, taking in the rather plain stone room with a single pass.

It, like the room before it, was highly vaulted. It was longer but bare of any furnishings. This was no mere family burial room but one probably reserved for a single, important person who would have been entombed in a sarcophagus at the far end. Where once that stone coffin sat was now a large and regal looking chair. In that chair sat a rather confused lycan who, until seconds ago, had been talking to a few other important looking men: alphas of other dens.

He was taller than Lucian by a full head and shoulders, and almost twice as thick. He kept his hair long and loose like his brother's and it shared the same wavy quality that many models would have dreamed of. They had the same piercing green eyes but not much else of a resemblance. Where Lucian's face was angular with a trimmed beard, his brother was boxy and clean shaven. For a long moment the two looked at each other, Lucian with an almost bored expression, Adrian with a hard stare that was half disbelief and half something else the elder brother couldn't identify.

The numerous gathered lycans – there were well over a couple hundred – looked between the two trying to figure out what to do and waiting on their King's action. Most did not recognize the small man who stood before their king without any sign of respect. A few, though, were staring just as intensely at Lucian as Adrian was. They were older and had been alive when the lycans were enslaved by Viktor. Finally, a woman broke from the crowd and scurried over to Lucian. She gazed into his eyes, hands held over her mouth, before dropping to her knees and grasping both his hands with hers. She kissed them fervently then looked up with shining eyes.

"My Lord!" she murmured in disbelief. "It has been too long!" She looked over her shoulder to a group of lycans obviously affiliated with her. "It _is_ him, it is Lucian!"

As an excited chattering broke out in the hallway, Lucian pulled the woman to her feet and hugged her firmly. "I thought you would have died long ago," he said as he released her, holding her at arm's length. "I'm rather glad you chose to get out of the fighting. It is good to see you, Gilda."

"I'm sure you say that to all the women," she retorted, placing her palm against his cheek. "But what curious company you keep." The she-lycan gazed at Aislyn with a good deal of interest. "Another vampire mate?"

Aislyn, standing very near Lucian, shook her head fervently.

"Ah, no." Lucian brushed over the possibly awkward situation. "I remain unmated, Gilda, but that is not what I came to discuss. I have much to speak to Adrian about and I think I should start before his head explodes."

Stepping past his old friend, Lucian approached Adrian's chair. The King was standing now, still looking at Lucian with that odd mixture of emotions. The room quieted again as they waited for their King and the fabled Lucian to speak.

"You're not dead," Adrian stated.

"I certainly hope not," Lucian replied with his usual cheek. "Otherwise this could become even more awkward that it already is."

"How did you find me?" Adrian continued as if oblivious to his subjects, eyes only on his long-lost brother.

"A little bird brought me." At this Lucian reached out and took Trina's arm, pulling her forward.

Adrian frowned. "Trina! Why in the world would you bring them here?"

"I can't control my body," she snapped and tried to struggle. Aislyn twisted her wrist and the girl barred her teeth in pain and stopped wiggling.

As if just now noticing the vampire, Adrian turned back to his elder brother. "What is the meaning of this? You bring one of _them _into my court? " He pointed at Aislyn with an elongated fingernail. His eyes were starting to darken and Lucian's senses went onto alert. "It's the middle of the day!"

"Yes. We must speak, Adrian, and it is very important that you listen." Lucian kept a hand on Trina although it wasn't really necessary. "There are some very important and dangerous things going on up there that affects all of us. Aislyn is here as a representative of the London coven."

"And you as their lapdog?" spat his brother. It was clear Adrian still harbored ill feelings toward Viktor's lot and no one blamed him.

"No, I am here as an equal. We have been working together for a few weeks now and I think it is time you and I speak about an alliance," Lucian spoke frankly.

"What about your damn precious war in Eastern Europe?" Adrian's tone was derisive.

"Viktor is dead, my mission is complete. I have my reasons for coming to London."

"Good riddance," Adrian growled. "What reasons? What is so important you come all the way to Brittan for some damn blood-suckers?"

"The Dolls-" Lucian started before his brother rudely cut him off.

"That damn thing again? I thought I made it perfectly clear to those vampires that I have no wish whatsoever to get involved in a war." Adrian sat again in his chair, his voice annoyed.

"It will find you eventually and then you will have no choice. If you help us now, we might skip the step of them becoming too overly powerful." Aislyn spoke up now, eyes narrowed at the King. Although she hadn't dealt with him in the past, any other encounters with this stubborn leader had not ended with any cooperation.

"Why should I listen to you? You come in here, holding my granddaughter prisoner, and expect me to do whatever you want me to? And what the hell is wrong with your eyes?" Adrian was standing again, his finger once more pointed to Aislyn with its sharp nail.

Lucian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at this brother. Adrian had always been damnably one-tracked in his thinking processes, never able to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Coupled with a short attention span and a shorter temper, Lucian wondered how Adrian had ever managed to rule an entire city of packs without killing everyone in the process.

"There is nothing wrong with my eyes," Aislyn countered. She slowly uncurled her fingers and flicked her wrist. Trina went slightly limp as if being dropped, and then she shook herself and scrambled away from the new lycans into the surrounding packs, effectively disappearing into the numbers. "Of course, you've only seen us with our contacts in," she mused aloud, "so I can see where you might be confused."

"What?" Adrian's eyes were fading to green with his confusion and Lucian took the opportunity to cut into the conversation.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere more private to discuss this further?" the elder brother suggested shrewdly. "This situation is very serious and the longer we get off the topic, the more time the Doll makers have to destroy our world."

"It is the full moon tonight." Adrian shook his head. "Tonight we convene as one pack. I will speak with you if only to satisfy my own curiosity, but it will not be tonight. It will have to wait until tomorrow night. You may stay and join the pack if you wish, as is your right. You have taken up residence in London and thus fall under my jurisdiction."

Lucian's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am under no ones jurisdiction, especially not yours, Brother." He wouldn't mention that his entire dealings in London were because he was really under the command of Aislyn's coven. The less his brother knew about his reasons for being in London, the better.

That damn quiet hush returned as the pack watched their leader for his reaction. As expected, it was not a happy one.

"You and your pitiful pack have come to my den in my city. You don't even have enough to call a decent den. You will follow my laws while you are here. If you don't like it, leave London."

"Most of my pack was killed in the last raid by Viktor. At least they died doing something for our species. I'm sorry that I haven't been here sitting on my ass for the last few centuries. And I'm afraid I'm not leaving London until we've destroyed every last Doll and the secret of how to make them." Lucian stood firmly in place as his brother stalked toward him. Adrian would have been an imposing figure, standing so tall over the smaller male, if Lucian didn't know him from birth. For the majority of their young lives Adrian had tried to bully his older brother and Lucian was an expert at ignoring it. Plus if things got sticky, Lucian had a few aces up his sleeves. One of them was standing nearby at that very moment, whispering unintelligible things under her breath and tracing little symbols onto the back of her gloves. He silently thanked his brother for being so oblivious to everything around them.

Lucian's cheeky remark didn't sit well with the King and he expressed it in the most satisfying way he could currently think of. With a blurred motion, Adrian brought his hand across his brother's face, claws extended. Aislyn flinched as blood from Lucian's face splattered across the side of her face as well.

Lucian sighed and rolled his shoulders slightly, ignoring the slash marks across his cheek and the blood dribbling down his chin. The wounds were quickly sealing over anyway and the pain was negligible. "Oh, so are we going to be children about this? You really don't want to start this game with me, do you?"

"What game? This is called discipline." Adrian raised his hand again as if daring Lucian to stand his ground. The elder didn't bother to move as the hand came back down again. At the last moment, Lucian's own hand shot up and snagged Adrian's wrist, twisting it back at an angle so sharply the snap was audible. Adrian was thrown off his balance, one leg lifting into the air. Lucian took advantage of the motion and launched himself forward. The hand not holding his brother's wrist went for Adrian's throat, shoving him backwards. With a rapid sweeping motion of his own leg, Lucian yanked his brother's only supporting leg out from under him. Adrian went down hard, head cracking on the stone floor. Lucian released the other wolf and Adrian rolled away groaning, the fractures already healing.

"Have you really forgotten that I've spent the last umpteen-hundred years fighting? Are you really so much of an idiot that you think I don't know how to kick your ass or the ass of anyone in this room?" Lucian stood over his brother, his own eyes black now. Although Lucian's temper wasn't as short as Adrian's, he had reached about the end of his tolerance for his younger brother.

There was a decidedly awkward shuffling of the packs surrounding them as Adrian sat up stunned. The larger man struggled to his feet, shaking his addled brain as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"What, did you want more?" Lucian snarled. "Would you perhaps like to transform first? I doubt you would do any better, though."

Adrian shook his head again, this time as if saying 'no.' The younger werewolf retreated rapidly to his chair, sitting once more. "There is no fighting on the full moon," he barked as if trying to save face. "We will settle this tomorrow."

"Fine." Lucian took a moment to compose himself before addressing Adrian again. "I require accommodations until our meeting."

"Yes, whatever." Adrian waved a hand dismissively as he still attempted to regain his position as top dog. His air of cool indifference wasn't very effective; it sounded more like he was promising his brother whatever the elder wanted. In a world where everyone bows to the alpha, this did much less for Adrian's reputation and much more for Lucian's. "Trina."

The young she-wolf emerged from the crowd timidly. She was not looking forward to dealing with Lucian's pack again so soon.

"Take this pack to one of the visiting dens and settle them. Then return promptly so we may continue this conference."

Without bothering to say good-bye to his brother, Lucian motioned for his pack to follow the small blond from the room. They could hear the chattering break out as they left and Lucian knew he had made quite the impression on his brother's people. It was irritating that he wouldn't get anywhere with his quest until the next day but at least he had found his brother and shown him that this alpha was not a man to be trifled with and Lucian wasn't going to play any of Adrian's stupid 'I am King' games.

The den space they were given was small but comfortable. Trina left without any preamble, hardly daring to glance over her shoulder at the foreign wolves as she vanished down the corridor. Lucian took a moment to survey their accommodations and finally nodded in satisfaction.

The room was decorated somewhat similarly to the main commons. The alcoves in the walls were not used for storage here, though, but lined with mattresses and blankets. A pile of pillows were stacked in a nearby basket. There were a couple of tables, some chairs, and a number of smaller love-seat couches that invited the occupants to sit. Lucian moved to one of the alcoves in a favorable location and threw his jacket onto it to claim it then told his men to make themselves comfortable. As they did so, he turned to find Aislyn.

The woman was standing at one of the tables where a pitcher of water was standing. She was using a damp handkerchief to wipe the blood off her face. She offered it to him when she was done. Silently, the lycan took it.

"I need to head back to the complex and report on what has happened here," she began softly once he had returned her handkerchief. She laid it across the back of one of the chairs to dry. "Plus they may need me if something were to happen. There's no cell reception down here so I'll return as soon as I can to check on you."

"You don't think I can handle this by myself?" Lucian raised an eyebrow, leaning back against the edge of the table. He crossed his arms and gave her a level stare.

"You know that isn't what I meant," she returned, sitting on the table next to him. She leaned back on her palms, gazing up at the ceiling. "Father is going to want status updates and the only way to get that is if I run back and forth to give them."

"You could just stay," he suggested. "Go back when we're done."

"And have my Father send the entire force of the coven over this way to find me in fear that I've been eaten alive by a pack of rabid 'dogs'?" Aislyn chuckled to herself.

"Very well. If you insist upon abandoning me, I will at least accompany you out of this place to make sure you get on your way safely." He pushed himself away from the table and held out at hand to help her down.

"I thought you said you could take care of yourself and now I'm suddenly abandoning you?" Aislyn took the proffered hand and hopped down from her perch as he yanked her forward.

Lucian smirked as he dropped her hand and headed for the corridor out of their dead-end room. "I must admit it is nice to have a Hunter along. I will miss having your peculiar magic at my back. However, I managed for many years without you so I will make do."

Aislyn tutted at him and shook her head, amused despite the situation. It seemed a little odd that she had only found him a couple weeks ago and already their rapport was becoming more open. Although guarded and rather formal at first, they had shifted to a more friendly association that was lending well to joking and teasing. Aislyn rather liked it. Her life was militaristic and she didn't have friends, she had comrades. It was nice to have someone she could consider a friend.

It took them a little under an hour to navigate themselves back up to the ground level. On the street, Aislyn checked the sky and saw the moon was just peaking over the horizon. The passage of time was deceptive underground when one couldn't see the sky. She had plenty of time to get home and brief her father before he had to retire for the day.

"Take care of yourself down there. I don't want all my hard work to go to waste if you end up dead. I can only save you so many times, you know." She shot the wolf a grin that he returned freely.

"Duly noted, My Lady. Now get going before that sun comes up and turns you into kitty-litter."

Aislyn pulled a face at him and disappeared into the darkness. Lucian chuckled to himself before heading back underground. He knew very well that she wouldn't have to worry about the sun but it was worth her expression to say it.

When he arrived back at the guest-den, most of his men were in their alcoves asleep. Only Raze and Dubas sat up waiting for their leader. Noticing him return, they stood and waited. The three of them had things to discuss before their meeting with Adrian. Lucian motioned to the hallway to indicate they would talk away from the others.

* * *

Aislyn jogged down the corridors of the catacombs, her wet hair still plastered to her head and face. It was raining something terrible outside and she was glad to be under ground in a dry place. She remembered how dank Lucian's hideout had been and she had wondered if perhaps lycans liked to be wet. She was relieved to see how dry Adrian's dens had been.

Her footfalls echoed around the corridors as she ran. She wasn't in a particular hurry because of some dire event. She merely wanted to get back and check on Lucian's progress with his brother. The Dolls had been quiet lately and she felt useless around the manor. She had dallied at the house for a couple days before deciding she should go back to Adrian's domain.

As she approached the common room, she noted again how quiet it was. It was almost as if things hadn't changed at all since she had left. Did the full moon conference take more than one day or was it just normal for no one to be about at any time?

The only sound she heard when she entered the commons was the little old lap dog snoring away in his alcove. With a sigh she turned to the door that led into the "throne room." She yanked it open and moved inside to see if anyone was there. She wasn't too surprised to see the two hundred some-odd members of the packs of London standing around. What she _was_ taken aback by was Lucian sitting in Adrian's chair talking to some of the other alphas with a great deal of charm.

She approached, hands on her hips. He paused and stood as she reached him. "I just can't leave you alone for more than ten minutes without you getting into some sort of trouble, can I?" Aislyn glanced around, noticing that Adrian was standing some distance off with some of his pack members. He looked noticeably dour. "What have you done, Lucian?"

"Hm. Do you remember our conversation in the kitchen the other day about age and seniority?"

"Yes," Aislyn said slowly.

"Apparently the other alphas agree with you. We have the support of the London packs." Lucian smiled at her look of shock.

Aislyn wasn't sure entirely what to say to that. Her lips pulled up in a smile at the thought of having so much support to the Doll issue but it would require quite a bit of organization to get this lot to work together with her lot.

"Actually, I'm pleased you've arrived," Lucian was continuing. "We have some things to discuss that needn't be shared with the others." The lycan motioned a dismissal to the other alphas and headed out of the Great Hall with Aislyn. They headed back to the guest den he had occupied while she was away. Once there they settled themselves on one of the couches.

"This went more smoothly than expected," Aislyn started. "Mind telling me more specifically what happened? A group that followed one man for hundreds of years has suddenly turned their backs on him just because a famous war hero shows up? You must admit it seems fishy."

"I may have left out a few details, yes." Lucian rested his arm on the back of the couch, toying with a loose fiber as he searched for his words. "It has something to do with our hierarchy, our past, and the fact that I threw Adrian down the other night in front of the entire pack."

"This is a male dominance thing, isn't it?" Aislyn wrinkled her nose and Lucian smiled involuntarily at the cute expression it created.

"As much as I hate to be associated with a wild animal, unfortunately some things we lycans do stem from our wolfish ancestors. We are civilized, but we are still animals. Pack mentality does affect us." The man sighed and shook his head. "My act of putting my brother into his place showed a certain degree of dominance which the minds of the pack took as me being of a higher rank than Adrian. In the wild, before lycans could change at will or even change back at all, everyone was settled through violent acts of domination. Although we are able to retain our humanness now, there is still some deeper instinct left in us that tells us to follow the one who is strongest among the pack. For a long time, that was Adrian for these lycans."

"And by beating him, you showed yourself as more capable." Although Aislyn agreed with the fact that Lucian was probably a better leader, she didn't really find that the methods used by the wolves would be very effective. A good fighter is not always a good thinker and large groups needed a solid mind to lead them. She knew from her association that Lucian was a highly intelligent man so he was an exception to the rule.

"Barbaric though it is, yes. My act on the full moon planted the seed of thought into the minds of the other wolves. Afterwards, I discussed the issue of the Dolls and our need for cooperation with Adrian and the other alphas. Naturally, Brother-Dearest wasn't at all moved by my persuasion. Some of the others, though, were. Adrian accused me of coming there purposely to take his throne and turn the other against him. I told him that he was being an idiot." Lucian managed to pull the loose strand off the couch and twisted it idly through his fingers.

At this point he wasn't looking up at the vampire and she got the distinct impression that he was avoiding eye contact. Knowing what she knew of his personality coupled with the explanation of dominance rights he had just described, she had a good feeling she knew why he didn't want to look at her. "Have you been playing Gladiator while I've been gone?" she hedged. He winced.

"I'm not exactly proud of my species for choosing such means of picking a leader." Lucian sighed and flicked the string away. He rubbed his forehead tiredly and finally made himself look at the woman sitting next to him. "If I could do away with the need for a full out fight and put into place some form of diplomacy I would. Lycans are not a diplomatic society, though. They believe the strongest should lead and that there is only one way of choosing that. Without proving my ability to fight, not even the pack leaders that agreed with me would follow me into alliance."

"One day the fighting will end," Aislyn said softly, laying a hand on his arm and squeezing it. "Then you can retire from all this conflict. I cannot tell you how glad we are that you're here helping us, even if only because you owe my brother a debt."

He eyed her hand for a moment before covering it with his own. "I have done what I came to do and have filled my debt to Nagire. I think, though, that I would have come even if I didn't owe your brother a thing. These Dolls have the power to destroy our world and I will not stop until we have destroyed them."

He paused before continuing in a thoughtful voice. "I was ready to die that day in my lab. I thought my mission was complete, my dreams realized. I had created a blending that would revolutionize our people." A darkness flashed across his face that surprised Aislyn. "I wonder now at my own tenacity. Am I much better than whoever is creating the Dolls? I made Michael into what any sane immortal would call an abomination. I was playing with our very genetic make-up, I was playing God."

Aislyn was silent for a long while as he slipped into his own thoughts. His hand was still on hers and she couldn't think of much else to do but to release his arm to twist her own hand into his. The movement brought him out of his revere and he looked up at her again, eyes focusing on the compassionate expression she wore.

"Why did you do it?" she asked gently. "I doubt it was to destroy the world. I don't see that kind of cruelty in you. Don't compare yourself to whatever demon is creating the Dolls. I truly doubt this Michael is an abomination. Selene surely didn't think so from what I saw of her while at her coven."

"Did Nagire tell you when he spoke of saving me the circumstances of Sonja's death?"

Aislyn hesitated before nodding, not sure if he would be upset at her knowing his child had died that day, too.

"Perhaps it was because of that that I wanted to find Michael. Maybe I wanted to prove it could be done or I wanted to put validity to my child's right to have lived. Maybe I just wanted a super-weapon against the bastard that destroyed my life. I had harbored that hatred for so long I think I forgot exactly why. I forsook my once gentle ways and became a monster. I killed so many and not just those who deserved their deaths."

Aislyn's hand tightened around his, her mouth pressed into a firm line. "Whatever you did is done and over with," she said with conviction. "The Lucian I have come to know is not a monster and I don't want to hear you speak such nonsense. You stayed at my bedside in a place where I was perfectly safe just because you wanted to make sure I was okay when I woke up. You walked me out of this den the other day to make sure I wouldn't run into any trouble. Mother said you carried me all the way through the park when I was unconscious, refusing to give me to anyone else despite how tired you must have been after that fight. You just met me the other day and already you're about the closest thing to a friend I have. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you sit here and belittle yourself for doing nothing wrong."

They sat in silence for a minute, Lucian overcome with an odd feeling he was trying to make sense of. He had the urge to reach out to her then and pull her close but resisted it out of respect for her personal space, despite the fact that they had been holding hands for a while. The touching was merely an act of kindness and friendship and he wasn't about to push the boundaries of this relationship. As unconventional as it was, he enjoyed her friendship and didn't want to lose it to a stupid move.

"Thank you," he spoke at last, his voice a little halting. "It has been a while since I've spoken of that to anyone. It has been on my mind a lot lately. It feels nice to get it off my chest and out into the open."

"That's what friends are for, right? I fully expect you to sit there and listen to my troubles when it comes my time, alright?" The teasing tone was back in her voice and Lucian visibly relaxed. He hadn't realized how tense he was feeling until that moment. Suddenly he felt rather light and relieved by that.

There was a slightly clearing of the throat from the passageway. Both vampress and werewolf looked up at the dark figure of Raze standing awkwardly in the doorway. He was gazing at their interlocked digits. Aislyn became abruptly aware of her hand still in Lucian's and pulled it away as if she had been shocked. Lucian hid a guilty expression that was threatening to creep into his face and instead gave Raze an impatient look that said the leader had all the right in the world to hold whoever's hand he wished, thank you very much.

"Yes?" the lycan finally snapped out when Raze's muteness continued.

"The others are waiting for orders, Sir," the tall lycan finally growled. "What should I tell them?"

"That they can wait for their king to finish his own business." Lucian shifted in annoyance.

"I should go back to the complex and let Father know about the change in status here," Aislyn intervened. "We have some work ahead of us. I will be back as soon as I'm done." She stood, Lucian rising to his feet as well.

"I will walk you out," he offered, ignoring his second-in-command pointedly.

"I can manage myself," she reassured him, patting his shoulder. "You should probably go deal with your people before your shadow here has a fit." Without a look at Raze, Aislyn headed through the doorway and out of sight. Lucian felt a hollowness settle in his stomach but brushed it aside.

"Come along, we might as well get started." Lucian brushed past Raze and headed back for the Great Hall. That small part he had shoved in the back of his mind thought vaguely that the sooner he finished his work here, the sooner he could get back to the coven mansion and to Aislyn.

**

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**AN: **Whew, that took me a long time to write! I do believe it is probably the LONGEST fanfic chapter I have ever written. I hope it was worth waiting for!


	6. The Definition of an Idiot

**Chapter Six: The Definition of an Idiot**

It took the better part of a week to finally come to some agreements among the packs Lucian now had control over. It was irritatingly slow progress but the oldest of the lycans was a natural at negotiation and coercion, making the whole process go much more smoothly than it could have.

Aislyn acted as a go-between for the most part, running messages to and from the manor house, updating her people on how things fared in Lucian's neck of the woods. The Dolls had gone eerily quiet again but no one was dropping their guard. Whoever was creating them could launch another assault at any day and, apparently, at any time. It was imperative that they got the packs organized as quickly as possible.

Finally, as the moon waned further and further away from full, agreements and allowances were made that kept most everyone happy. The alphas promised to meet at the manor-house once a week to keep the alliance strong. On top of that patrols would report any findings immediately and would alert the coven to any changes they felt might be helpful.

Aislyn had brought maps of already existing patrols and new ones were drawn up based on pack territory. That was what took the longest: figuring out who would scout where and for how long without stepping on any territorial toes. Lucian's pack, being ranked above the others, could go wherever they pleased without too much challenge, but it was deemed rude to trespass on another pack's predetermined territory without permission or good reason. Finally, nearly two weeks from the day Lucian took the throne, everything was laid out, all patrols were assigned, and not a single inch of the dens' territories lay unwatched.

Lucian and Aislyn were sitting in the light of a single lamp in the small room his pack occupied, looking again at the maps to triple check that neither of them had missed some important zone. There were lines and arrows drawn all over the paper in a confusing scrawl that would make little sense to anyone not involved in the complicated time sheets and patrol listings. Aislyn sat back after a minute, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes, groaning under her breath. She arched herself against the back of the chair, popping her spine in multiple places. Lucian watched her profile in the dim light through half-lidded eyes that were as tired as she looked. The rest of his pack had already retired for the night and were snoring gently around them in the niches.

When the woman was resettled, she turned her blood-shot eyes toward him. She hadn't slept in almost three days with all there was to do between here and the coven. "What are you planning to do now?" she asked, holding back a yawn threatening to escape. She swallowed it down unconvincingly.

"I've been contemplating taking a nap," he replied, not bothering to hide his own yawn as it crept out.

"I meant with the packs," she reiterated. "Are you going to stay here?"

"This is Adrian's den still, not mine." Lucian shook his head then propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "I will bring my pack back to the manor in the morning. It is the epicenter of this organization and it would serve this undertaking best if I stayed near the brain of the monster we have created."

Aislyn nodded her understanding. Inwardly she was relieved he would be coming back with her. As tiring as the last couple weeks had been, she found herself more and more eager to return to his side each time she left to take messages to her coven. She realized on some base level that she missed him when they were separated. It was comfortable and companionable to be around him and she liked that feeling. It was part of the reason she was intending to spend the night here on one of the couches rather than make the trudge home. She told him it was because she was too bone tired to go back, though, and stuck adamantly to that excuse.

"Is there anything more we need to do now? Most of the packs have left for their homes." Aislyn reached for one of the maps and started to roll it up. She handed them to Lucian who used some rubber bands to keep them closed. Soon they had a small pile of scrolls in the center of the table.

"I hope not." Lucian pushed himself up from the table and twisted his back a bit. With a satisfied sigh, he let his bones all settle into place. "To bed with us." He reached a hand down to help her up.

Aislyn finally let out her yawn and made for one of the couches. Lucian waylaid her with a touch to her shoulder and a tired smile. "Don't be ridiculous. Do you think I would sit by and let a lady take the couch? Use my alcove." He motioned to the stone recess he had been occupying. There had been just enough of the shelves for Lucian's pack so Aislyn hadn't been staying with the wolves.

"You sure?" Aislyn felt a little bad about putting him out of his bed when she knew he was just as exhausted as she was.

"Positive." He gave her a little push toward it.

"If you insist." She yawned again and kicked off her shoes to crawl into the bed. She tossed him one of the blankets before burrowing under the others and snuggling her face into his pillow. She heard more than saw him turn the light off and settle himself on the largest of the couches. She waited until she could hear his breathing turn deep and regular before turning her nose into his pillow and breathing deeply. It smelled musky and male and Aislyn, as tired as she was, allowed herself to feel the small curl of pleasure in her belly. Soon the woman drifted off, pleasantly wrapped in a warm cocoon made of blankets and that scent that was distinctly Lucian.

* * *

Aislyn blinked slowly up at a hazy, peachy something above her that was haloed by a dark something else. She furrowed her brow and tried to make out what she was hearing but it was muffled and far away. She batted her eyes a number of times but still the image did not come clearer. Finally, muddled, she reached a hand up and swatted at the something.

Her fist collided with Lucian's cheekbone and he grunted slightly in shock more than pain. He had been looking too intently at her face and hadn't noticed her lift her arm to smack out at him. "What was that about?" he asked but she didn't respond, still unable to make out what he was saying.

She reached out again, this time patting his cheek gently and running her hand around his jaw line. She moved up one cheek, paused at his hair, frowned, then felt his forehead and down the opposite of his face. He said something again, his muted voice rather tentative.

"I… can't hear you," she whispered, trying hard to focus her eyes still unsuccessfully. "I can't see you. Lucian?"

The blur moved with a motion she figured was a nod. It moved closer into her field of vision and came into clearer focus, although his face was still fuzzy at the edges. He dipped his head so that his mouth was nearer to her ear.

"I've been trying to wake you for over an hour," he told her. His voice was a mixture of relief and concern. "Are you alright?"

"Help me up," she replied, groping for his arm. Carefully, she used him to sit herself up and felt a dizzying wave of weakness spread over her. She swallowed a few times and held onto him for support until the sensation passed.

Carefully, Lucian sat next to her on the platform, still holding firmly onto the woman who was suddenly and mysteriously ill. "Aislyn, talk to me," he said firmly.

"I need blood," she murmured as the room finally stopped spinning. She tried without much success to straighten herself but found that wasn't such a good idea as the room twisted uncomfortably once more.

"Did you not eat last time you were at the manor?"

Aislyn stared blankly at the floor in an attempt to orient herself on a solid object. "I must have forgotten," she replied without much conviction. "We've been so busy."

"When was the last time you remember feeding?" Lucian prompted.

"It's been…" Aislyn closed her eyes but that didn't help any. The moment her visual landmarks were gone, the spinning intensified to the point where she swore she could hear wind rushing past her ears. It felt like she was sitting on an out of control merry-go-round. She pitched forward a little and was grateful to feel Lucian's arms tighten around her shoulders, keeping her from falling to the ground. She tried to focus again on his question and think logically back to when she remembered last taking a drink of blood. "Wednesday?" she supplied vaguely.

Lucian cursed. "Stupid woman," he hissed. It was already Saturday. "What kind of blood do you need?"

Despite the situation, Aislyn's natural pert came out full force. "Oh, any will do but I'm rather partial to O-positive if you have any," she sad dryly as the world stopped moving around her once more. The room started to swim into clearer focus but the vampire knew it wouldn't last unless she ate something and soon.

"Now is not really the time to crack jokes," Lucian warned sternly, trying to decide what to do. "Can you take mine?"

The woman pulled a face. "You taste like dog," she snorted.

"In some countries dog is a delicacy," the lycan defended in a non-convincingly hurt tone. "Now is also not really the time to be picky."

"It really should be from a human. I need to get back to the coven." Aislyn made to stand before she really remembered that Lucian was holding her in place. She looked at him through eyes that weren't tracking very well and he sighed deeply.

"Why don't we try to get you to the common room first and go from there?" The lycan stood, pulling her with him. Once on their feet, Lucian waited to see if she would stumble or hold steady. Although she swayed a little, Aislyn did manage to gain her feet without too much trouble.

"The weakness is starting to subside a little," she said hopefully as he led her to a chair. He settled her there then grabbed her boots and helped her put them on.

"From now on," he gritted through his teeth as he attempted to clasp the large, silver buckles closed without hurting himself, "I'm going to keep a nalgene bottle filled with us at all times." He finally got the last buckle closed and glared at the shoes. "I'm also getting you some Velcro. These are ridiculous. How the hell do you manage them in so little time?"

"That's a secret," she jibbed a bit and made an attempt to stand on her own. She stumbled slightly and Lucian caught her. Once righted, they headed for the common room. The trip seemed to take forever but Aislyn leaned heavily on the lycan-king and kept her feet moving.

One in the main room, Lucian deposited her on one of the couches and looked around. He spotted Trina and motioned her over. The young woman had warmed up to his group after Lucian gained supremacy and the new alpha was trying his best to include her in things. She was a smart young woman but Adrian hardly paid her any more attention than to boss her around. Lucian recognized her as a possible ally and someone that would come in handy in the future should he need ears within his brother's court.

"Uncle?" she asked as she reached him. She flicked her gaze to the vampire lolling on the couch. Although she hadn't really forgiven Aislyn for what she did, Trina was starting to accept the vampire's presence among them. Her uncle seemed to like Aislyn a little more than normal so Trina would make an attempt to like the woman, too. The she-lycan was finding it easier than she thought it would be.

"I would like you to stay here with her while I go find my lieutenants. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid, like try to walk." Lucian patted his great-niece's shoulder before moving to disappear down one of the corridors branching off the common room.

"What's wrong with her?" Trina called after him as she settled herself on the couch near the vampire.

"She's an idiot," Lucian replied sharply over his shoulder then vanished around a bend.

There were a few other wolves in the commons and they paused in their activities to cast curious glances at the vampire. Aislyn was making an honest attempt to bring Trina into focus but couldn't get the young woman's image to stop jumping around.

"Are you drunk?" the young woman finally asked when she saw Aislyn's eyes flicking with nystagmus.

Aislyn looked in Trina's general direction and gave her a crooked smile. "That's a very good description for what I'm feeling, but no. I haven't eaten in three days."

Trina regarded the vampire thoughtfully. "So if a vampire doesn't eat, they get drunk?"

It seemed a childish thing to say but Aislyn forgave the ignorant girl for her lack of knowledge. Adrian had kept the children of his den from knowing much about the real world. It was a foolish thing to do but it was his attempt to be protective. In the past two weeks Aislyn had learned that Trina, though she looked like a tiny woman, was only about eighteen. She didn't have a lot of real world experience yet and tended to know very little about the other immortal species.

"Have you ever held your breath for a very long time?" Aislyn asked. Trina looked confused and the older woman attempted to elaborate the best she could. It was difficult sometimes to make others understand what this whole ordeal was like. "It has to do with the why behind vampires needing blood," Aislyn tried again. "I can eat other foods but it doesn't do too much for me in the long run. It is the blood that keeps me alive. If I don't drink it, my body starts to break down my own blood cells to eat. What I'm experiencing right now is a sort of anemia, if you would. I don't have the energy to do more than sit here and watch the world spin around me."

"That sucks," Trina replied bluntly.

"Majorly." Aislyn nodded and immediately regretted the motion as the floor and ceiling switched places. She leaned back against the couch, fearing if she didn't she would fall right off onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Aislyn, eyes closed, felt Trina jerk slightly on the couch next to her. Very slowly, the vampire forced her eyelids to peel open. As her vision slowly righted itself, she saw Adrian come to a halt in front of the couch.

"She's not well," Trina was defending, attempting to stand up to her formidable grandfather. "Uncle will be back soon."

Adrian sneered and gave the lycan a pointed look. "Go find something useful to do," he ordered. The girl hesitated for a moment. Although that was a direct command from her pack alpha, the king of the packs had told her to stay here. In that brief flash of indecision, Adrian's temper flared and Trina found herself sprawled halfway across the commons.

"Hey!" Aislyn objected firmly, attempting to stand from her seat. She had to use the arm of the couch to balance but she managed to get to her feet without too much incident. The dizzy spell was wearing off again and things were coming back into clarity. She let go of the couch and stood her ground without support. "That was uncalled for."

"Who are you to talk to me?" Adrian looked down at her with a nasty glare. "You have no power here." Slowly, the lycan circled her. Aislyn didn't bother to track him as she knew it would just cause the dizziness to come back. Instead she kept her eyes forward on some distant, stable point and waited for him to go away. Somehow she doubted this was going to end so nicely.

As the man walked, he made a few obvious sniffing noises. Finally he spat in disgust. "Maybe you do have the right. You smell like my brother. Tell me, Bitch, are you our queen? Has he been rutting with you in your fancy little mansion while we all sit here in the dark?" He stopped in front of her again. "All I smell on him is more disgusting vampire, just like when he took Viktor's little whore."

Aislyn's knuckles popped as she fisted her hands at her sides. "Lucian and I are comrades in this fight," she said as calmly as she could. "Our relationship past that is none of your business."

"Oh, so it's not that is it? Well, how long do think it will be before he lays a claim to you?" Adrian leaned in and Aislyn resisted the urge to lean away. "It's disgraceful how he ogles you. Maybe I should kill you before he gets the chance to mount and makes another mess of our way of life."

The room had gone silent and still. Not even the little old lapdog made a noise as the former king threatened the vampire in their midst. She was showing no signs of fear despite her weakened state and the gathered felt a degree of respect for the small woman who refused to balk in the face of a much larger opponent.

"I thought I told you to keep her from getting up, Trina." Lucian's voice rang clearly through the silence of the commons. Heads whipped around to look at their king as he walked through the room. His feet made no sound as he padded toward his brother. The way his jaw clenched betrayed his anger on an otherwise impassive face. He was flanked by Raze and Dubas. With a jerk of his chin, Lucian motioned for Raze to gather Trina off the floor. As his second went to obey, the eldest of the lycans came to a halt in front of his brother.

"I was just having a friendly chat with our friend," Adrian replied without masking the sarcasm or contempt in his voice.

Lucian entertained the idea of flinging his brother into next week but held his anger in check and moved past the younger lycan to grab a nearly feinting vampire before she hit the floor. He pulled her arm over his shoulder and slipped his other arm around her waist for support. "I am taking my pack now. Consider yourself lucky today, Brother. Next time I will be forced to embarrass you further in front of your own pack. I expect to see you at the coven in one week's time with a full report."

Half carrying the woman, Lucian brushed past his brother and headed the way he had come from. After two weeks of exploring the tunnels with the help of Trina, Lucian had discovered many other ways in and out of the den. The path he chose now would take them to the southern most part of the territory held by Adrian. Plus it was a dry path and there would be no need to trudge through the unidentified ick they had experienced the first time they set foot in this den.

He didn't bother to look back as he vanished down the corridor. His two lieutenants followed obediently behind him. "Dubas, go back to where we were sleeping and grab the maps. Bring them to the coven. Raze and I will lead the others there." The tall man turned around without a word and jogged off down the hallway.

"Would you like me to take her?" Raze offered in his monotone from just behind Lucian. Lucian considered for a moment before pausing to pass her off to him. It looked as though Aislyn had slipped back into a semi-conscious spell. Raze hefted her up into his arms and they continued.

As they reached the entrance to the underground – an old abandoned building that looked about ready to fall on their heads – Lucian signaled to his assembled pack to make for the vampires' complex. He didn't care how they got there. They were resourceful enough to figure it out.

He and Raze climbed into a car that Aislyn had been using to go to and from the complex and the den. It belonged to her father and was the usual nondescript black car they had been using since arriving in London. Raze took the driver's seat while Lucian situated Aislyn in the back. It was a thankfully uneventful drive.

Once at the manor, Lucian picked up the vampress and brought her inside without a word. The sun was up and the house was quiet. He wondered briefly where Lina was but figured she was probably in bed with her husband and set the thought out of his mind. Lucian left Aislyn on a couch in the large, open central room and went into the kitchen to scour the refrigerators for something dark, red, and thick. Most of what he found was fruit and cheesecake. It was not promising. For people who depended on blood, where the hell was it all?

Finally, the last fridge in the house yielded what he needed. It was filled with hundreds of medical fluid bags. He grabbed the first one he reached and half ran into the living room. A few members of his pack had arrived and were heading up stairs. They paused to glance at their leader before continuing on their way. He wasn't paying them any attention so they were free to do as they pleased for the moment. Plus no one wanted to get in his way when he had that particularly determined look on his face. Lucian would be dangerous if interrupted right at that moment.

The lycan patted Aislyn's face a few times to revive her but she barely blinked at him. Her eyes were open but flicking wildly from side to side. Frustrated and worried, Lucian knelt down beside the couch and tore the spigot of the bag open with his teeth. Holding her head with one hand, he tilted the contents of the bag slowly into her mouth. The process was agonizingly slow but eventually she started to swallow more regularly. Lucian set the empty bag on the coffee table and wondered if it would be enough. He ate flesh not blood and wasn't sure how much was considered a normal meal.

"How long did she wait this time?" Lina's voice asked softly from behind where he knelt. Lucian looked up over his shoulder. He had been too intent on Aislyn to notice the arrival of the woman of the house.

"Three days," he responded, turning his eyes back to the younger vampire. Aislyn had closed her eyes and was breathing evenly enough.

"She's going longer then." Lina frowned.

"This isn't the first time?"

"No. She doesn't notice she's hungry as well as some of those without mixed blood. She's able to go longer without it but that means she's more likely to forget she needs it until it is too late." Lina sat at the foot of her daughter, working to unbuckle the boots Lucian had spent so much time clasping not long before. "I'm glad you were with her."

"Why, may I ask?" Lucian stood from the ground long enough to shift to the couch as well. The adrenaline he had used during his search for the blood was wearing off and he felt tired but satisfied. He settled Aislyn's head on his lap to make room for him to sit and unconsciously smoothed the hair from her face.

To answer his question, Lina merely gave him an enigmatic but knowing look. He didn't catch its drift, though, and waited for a verbal explanation.

Lina dropped the second of the boots to the ground and sighed. "You are honorable, for all you are a wolf," she finally said. He wasn't sure if she was being facetious but let the comment slide off him like water. She was the Gates Hunter, after all, and it must have been difficult for her to finally let go of her werewolf killing ways to allow him and his pack into her home. He still felt a little edgy around her because of who she had been but it was getting easier to ignore the prickling sensation at the nap of his neck whenever she looked at him too closely. There were times he felt as though she was imagining a large target on the center of his forehead.

"I get the feeling you wouldn't leave her even if it were the more intelligent thing to do," the woman was continuing, that look of 'I know something you don't' back in her eyes. It was irritating but Lucian refused to rise to it. "Of all the places she could have been when her body broke down, I'm merely glad it was with someone who would take care of her so devotedly." He wasn't sure he liked the way she said that word but again, he brushed it aside as merely his discomfort at being alone in the room with Gates. At last, Lina rose from the couch. "I trust you to take her to bed safely." The woman turned toward one of the library doors but not before Lucian saw that glimmer of laughter in her eyes again. He pointedly ignored the innuendo and stood to take the young woman up into his arms.

He had a feeling of déjà vu as he settled her into her bed, removing her jacket and tucking the blankets firmly around her. He could have sworn he had just done this not that long ago. Like that last time, he wasn't inclined to leave her there by herself. Finding an interesting looking book on one of her book shelves, he settled himself into the armchair next to her bed and prepared himself to play the waiting game once more.

* * *

Aislyn opened her eyes to the familiar blue drapery of her bed's canopy. She blinked a few times, noticing how the world was stable and the curtains focused perfectly. She turned her head to gaze into the twinkling green eyes of her savior. She noticed a small pile of novels on the nightstand next to him. He was watching her as though sharing a private joke with someone before turning his eyes down to the book in his hands. He cleared his throat lightly before starting to read aloud what he was looking at.

"Idiot. Noun. An utterly foolish or senseless person. Also, a person of the lowest order in a former classification of mental retardation, having a mental age of less than three years old and an intelligence quotient under 25." He looked back up to her, his eyes sparkling and his lips pulled up in a smirk. "Just thought you might want to know." He snapped the dictionary shut and tossed it onto his pile of books before leaning forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Thoroughly ridiculed, thank you," Aislyn replied tersely as she sat up and took stock of herself. "And hungry."

Lucian reached near the side of the bed to something Aislyn couldn't see from her angle. He straightened and tossed her a bio-bag. With a grateful sigh she popped the cap on the spigot and downed it in a few gulps. After her ordeal she wasn't in the mood to be ladylike in her eating. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and threw the bag into a rubbish bin beside the bed.

"Anything else in the cooler?" She leaned over the side of the bed to look at the small ice chest Lucian had brought up. "Is that Jell-O?"

Not bothering to conceal a chuckle, the lycan pulled out the plastic cup of green gelatin and handed her a spoon. "Your mother mentioned you were partial to lime."

"And how!" Aislyn tore open the plastic flap and dug in greedily. "I'm always starving for something sweet when this happens."

"Your mother mentioned something like that, too. She came to check on you about an hour ago and change your clothes. I've been given strict instructions to keep you here on a diet of blood and Lime Jell-O until tomorrow. She seems to believe you're not going to listen to her orders without a bodyguard."

Her mother's presence would explain the pajama shorts and tank top she was wearing. "Why wouldn't I listen?" Aislyn asked as she tossed the cup into the garbage and set the spoon on her nightstand. Lucian merely gave her a level look.

"I've known you for, what, a couple months at most and _I_ already know you're more likely to sprout wings than listen to your mother about this. If you tended to follow her advice, you'd be a bit more conscious about feeding when you should. It's bad enough you're an idiot, but you're also a _stubborn_ idiot."

"How do you know I don't have wings?" Aislyn joked as she popped the top of another cup of pre-packaged Jell-O. "Have you been peeking?"

"I am a perfect gentleman," he retorted, folding his arms. "But in all seriousness, you need to stay here and rest for a while. I agree with Lina that you should be confined to your quarters until you're fully recuperated. Apparently the last time you did this you tried to do too much too soon and wound up unconscious again while in the driver's seat of a car going about 160 kilometers per hour." He tried not to look satisfied as Aislyn winced. "I don't want to be in the car if you do that again."

"No one died," she defended weakly.

"You were the only one in the car according to Lina."

"Case in point. I'm still alive and whole."

"You were put in traction." Lucian's brows furrowed. "We are not going to argue about this. I'm taking my job rather seriously and you will remain under my care until you are fit for release."

"Yes sir, Nurse Betty," Aislyn grouched as she snuggled back under her blankets.

"Your mother also mentioned moodiness was a side effect of your idiocy," he said, unruffled by her words. She flipped him a silent 'up yours' before dragging the blankets over her head and turning her back on him. Lucian sighed under his breath and picked up one of the novels, flipping to his saved page. This was going to be a long couple days.

* * *

She was being pressed down into something soft. In the darkness around her she could hear the sound of mingled panting and knew part of it was coming from her own lips. There was an intoxicating scent in the air that she breathed deeply and knew at once who it belonged to: Lucian. She could feel his breath against her neck, feel his powerful body on her, _in_ her. She moaned and arched her back as he moved. She felt the graze of his teeth on her shoulder and wrapped her limbs around the solid body that moved above her in slow, exaggerated strokes. She was close, so close. A little more…

Aislyn's eyes snapped open as a gasp escaped her lips. There was nothing there, no one above her. Her heart hammered in her chest as she sat up and looked around her empty room. She felt her hands shaking and she clenched them into her blankets to keep the motion at bay. She was relieved to see he wasn't in the room with her as she took a moment to crawl out from the rather inappropriate dream.

She had been so close and felt a brief disappointment that the dream hadn't continued long enough to let her finish. She felt very unfulfilled and frustrated. Throwing the blankets aside she stood and stretched her body to take stock of herself. She came to the decision that she probably needed a shower and more blood. The cooler was empty though so she went in search of her jailer.

She found him asleep on one of the couches in the sitting room; the one nearest the door. She contemplated sneaking past him to go to the kitchens when a murmur escaped his lips and she froze. She glanced down at him but he appeared to be asleep. In a sudden rush of memory, she could almost feel his breath on her neck and feel his chest sliding over her. Aislyn flushed and felt her skin tingle at the thought. Quickly, she shoved the feelings away. She wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good friendship with those types of thoughts. It was bad enough she had just woken up from a very intimate dream that had left her ready to jump him the moment she saw him.

He was muttering again and, out of curiosity, she finally gave up her attempt to leave the room. She perched herself as lightly as she could on the edge of the couch and leaned over him to see if she could make out what he was saying. It was mostly unintelligible but she found it oddly endearing.

He turned his head slightly and his eyelids started to flutter. She smiled down at him as his eyes gazed up at her without really seeing her. "Sonja…?" He sat bolt upright and blinked at her, the book on his chest flying off the couch with the motion. Breathing very heavily, he took a moment to register who was actually sitting there. The strong features of his late wife faded into the soft, heart-shaped face of Aislyn. Bewildered, he wasn't able to mask the deep disappointment he felt as he realized it had been a dream and Sonja was not there with him.

Aislyn hadn't missed the look. Her own dream came bursting from the recesses of her mind and her stomach flipped itself upside down. Even though she had just berated herself for thinking of him in any light but friendship, she felt a terrible hurt at that dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes at the sight of her. _She_ was not the one he wanted to see.

Without a word, Aislyn stood from the couch and stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind her. Well, if he didn't want to see her she wasn't going to force herself on him.

Fuming for no real apparent reason, Aislyn bypassed the stairs and hopped the railing. She landed with a dull thud and stomped her way into the kitchen. Bright streams of sunlight illuminated the kitchen and the few members of Lucian's pack that occupied it. They were munching on something red and not very cooked. She didn't want to know so she ignored them and yanked open one of the refrigerators.

"Thought you were supposed to be upstairs," Dubas commented idly between bites of his meat. "If my lord finds you've escaped he's going to be very put off."

Dubas should have kept quiet. Spinning, Aislyn launched the first thing she touched into the side of the werewolf's face. The glass milk jug shattered, spraying everyone in the vicinity with the frothy white liquid. "If I want your opinion, I'll ask it, Wolf," she spat. She moved to storm from the room and came face to face with a very bewildered looking Lucian.

"Aislyn…" he started slowly, taking a moment to take in the scene. "What-"

"Fuck off." She shoved past him and out the door. "You're not my warden!" she called over her shoulder as the door swung shut behind her. Lucian turned slowly to stare after her.

"What crawled up her ass and died?" Dubas growled as he picked glass shards out of the side of his face.

"I have no idea…" Lucian took a quick survey of his crew before shaking his head to himself. "Get yourselves cleaned up and head out on patrol. I'm stuck here until Her Majesty is fit enough for duty. Consider Raze in charge of the nighttime patrols. Dubas, you take dayshift."

Lucian headed back up stairs and to Aislyn's bedroom. He wasn't surprised to find it locked. He could vaguely hear her talking to herself inside but couldn't make out the words. Lina really meant it when she said lack of blood made Aislyn moody. He hadn't the foggiest idea why she was behaving so erratically. He only ever had the one mate and didn't spend a lot of time around the she-lycans before they fled his pack. If ever anyone didn't understand women, it was Lucian.

A knot settled itself in the base of his stomach as he stood by her doorway. He reminded himself that this was probably a side effect of her ordeal and nothing more. She would calm down and they would continue on as if nothing had happened. Once she returned to normal they would be back on equal terms and this whole fiasco would be forgotten. Giving up, Lucian retreated to his own bedroom to change his clothing – he had not done that yet since coming back from Adrian's den – and take a nice, hot shower.

* * *

"I thought I asked you to watch her!"

A door slammed open in Lucian's sitting room. He gazed apprehensively at the bathroom door as he switched of the shower's taps and groped for a towel. He wrapped it around his waist just in time for Lina to thunder into the bathroom. "You people really don't know how to knock, do you," he snapped.

"She's gone." Lina paced the length of the bathroom in a right rage. She completely ignored his comment, her brown hair loose and whipping around her face each time she turned sharply on her heel. "Vanished. Her gear is gone, too. She took the Bentley. She could be anywhere by now. She could be passed out, crashed into a tree!" The woman turned and started to back Lucian up into the wall of the shower stall. He tried to hold his ground the best he could in the face of her irrational anger. So _this_ is where Aislyn got it from.

"She is a grown woman," Lucian reminded her dryly when Lina paused to take a breath long enough that he could get a word in. "She seemed energetic enough when she was throwing things at my men." Lina bristled slightly but Lucian pushed on while he still could. "I'm not her jailer. I never intended to be more than a supportive friend. I wasn't about to lock her in her own room like a common animal."

His words caused the woman to pause, her anger dissipating rather quickly. She knew, as well did everyone else, that part of the war between the Virals and the Lycans was stemmed from the years Lucian was a collared slave. She sighed after a moment and nodded. "I'm just worried," she explained. "She's my only child."

This Lucian could understand on some levels. "Let me get dressed. I will find her. Please, go back to your duties and leave your daughter to me."

It took Lucian very little time to dress himself. He grabbed his cell phone and made a few quick calls to lycans he knew would be on patrol, ordering them to keep an eye out for a black Bentley.

Without much of a direction to go on, he headed out of the manor hoping to hear something soon. Until then he wasn't sure where he was going to look. He didn't know any of her usual haunts, if she had any. In the meantime, he opted for taking a walk in the direction of the city-proper. If there were any major crashes, his people would call and let him know. Aislyn probably just needed time to think things over and relax without having everyone trying to keep her in one place. Lucian knew from experience that such treatment was enough to drive even the most level headed to extremes.

At least, he noted as he glanced up at the sun in its clear, blue sky, it was a nice day for a walk.

* * *

He had paused to check a few street signs when his pocket started singing. It took a moment to locate which pocket he had shoved the phone into but finally pulled the device out and flipped it open. "Yes?"

"Uncle!" It was Trina's voice and he frowned. "Where are you?"

He checked the street signs again. "Uhm. Corner of Tofton and Romney. I'm kind of in the middle of something." He didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"I know, that's why I'm calling. I overheard my grandfather ordering his patrols to ignore any mention of a black Bentley."

Lucian sighed, the last part coming out as a growl. "That is not helpful. I already figured he would not be cooperative."

"That's not why I called," Trina stressed, sounding about as annoyed at him as he felt at her.

"Then get on with it, girl."

"Uncle, I found her. I didn't agree with Grandfather, he shouldn't be going against your orders, so I went out to help look for Aislyn. Although by the sound of your location you may not have needed me."

"Where are you?"

"Victoria Tower Gardens, on the Thames."

"Great." Lucian turned a slow circle around. "Where is that from here? I'm on foot, if that helps."

"Take Romney East – follow the flow of traffic – until you get to Dean Bradley. Go left. Take the circle to the right and go down Dean Stanley. The park is right there. I'll meet you right by the fountain."

Lucian hung up, oriented himself, and took off at a run, ignoring the startled pedestrians around him. There were too many humans for the lycan to use his real speed but he made good time. Trina was right: if he had been any closer to the Thames, his feet would have been wet.

The small, denim clad woman met him by a fountain near the southern end of the grassy park. She pointed northward along the bank. "She's sitting on the stone wall near the benches at the northern end. Whatever you did, I think you should apologize. Girls like that."

Lucian flicked his eyes down at the short she-wolf then back up toward where she pointed. He patted her shoulder lightly. "Thank you, Trina. I think I can handle it from here. Go back home."

"My Lord." She bobbed slightly then turned and jogged away. He made a mental note putting Trina on his side of any debate against Adrian.

The park was filled with late afternoon visitors. Many were wandering along the path at the river's side. Lucian hadn't shaved in a few days and was feeling rather scruffy and out of place in the family-friendly, manicured, sunny garden. He received more than one suspicious stare from passers-by who eyed his black trench coat and long hair with displeasure. He pointedly ignored them.

It took him little to no time to locate the woman he was after. She sat on the edge of the wall, legs dangling down the side facing the water. She had thankfully changed out of her pajamas into a simple pair of jeans and a red t-shirt that was about a shade darker than her eyes. He noticed that, although there were a number of people taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather this late fall evening, very few were near her. Anyone with half a brain would have turned around and left her there but Lucian had promised her mother he would take care of things and he was a man of his word.

He approached her, intentionally making noise so as not to startle her. The last thing he needed was to cause her to fall into the river. He leaned forward against the wall next to her, watching the river flow by. It looked deceptively slow but he knew there had to be a strong currant underneath that surface. For a while, neither spoke.

"I hope you brought wooden handcuffs because the metal kind doesn't work on me." Aislyn's eyes were glued coldly to the water.

"I'm not here to take you back in irons, Aislyn," he replied gently. "I'm here to ask you to come back. I'm not quite sure what spurred you to run off in the first place, honestly."

She didn't respond but glared resolutely into the Thames.

"Did I say something to upset you this morning?" Lucian cocked his head to one side, regarding her carefully. He saw the corner of her eye twitch. "Aislyn, Raze has told me that I sometimes used to talk in my sleep. Did I say something inappropriate?"

"It was nothing," she spoke at length. Slowly, she pulled her legs up and spun on her bottom until she was facing toward the park and not the river. She looked down at the lycan, rubbed her face with both hands, and then leaned her head back to look up at the darkening sky through the bare branches of the early winter trees.

" 'Nothing' does not usually result in you throwing things at my lieutenants." Lucian reached up automatically to help her down off the wall. He released her as soon as her feet hit the ground and motioned toward an unoccupied bench nearby.

"I have behaved badly," she admitted with chagrin as she sat next to him. "For my outbursts, I apologize. You remember nothing of this morning?"

He hesitated then, gazing out over the top of the wall at the city across the expanse of water. "I was dreaming of Sonja," he murmured. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees and looking down at his hands. "I don't really recall the dream exactly but it was like she was really there." He smiled rather sadly and shook his head more to himself than anyone else. "I thought I had stopped being so foolish centuries ago."

Aislyn wasn't sure exactly how to respond to this information. During her long sit on the wall she had mulled over her actions and realized there was no way he would know why she was so upset and no reason for her to mad at him in the first place. Her entire behavior had been childish at best and she was ashamed of herself for letting her moods take control of her mental ability to reason. She played the scene over and over again in her head, thinking about the ways she could have handled it better. She was convinced she had chosen the worst possible solution.

She had even tried to imagine things from his point of view. She had a fairly good knowledge about lycans, although she was learning more and more every day from Lucian. Aislyn had come to the conclusion that she had been very unreasonable and insensitive to her friend, although he hadn't realized what had made her act the way she had.

To someone born with a limited number of years to their lives – i.e. the human race – it was nearly impossible to imagine losing a loved one then having to live with it for so long. Humans died every day of natural and unnatural causes. The race of mortal creatures had learned to cope with such things. They lost someone they loved, they grieved, and then they got over it for the most part. If one lost a spouse, they would often remarry if the spouse died young enough.

Vampires functioned somewhat similarly. If they took a spouse, and said spouse somehow died, they would usually find someone else. Of course, vampires were not known for their monogamy and often they didn't even bother to marry. Aislyn knew a few that had probably slept with half the coven already. Sex was sex and, for those who had an eternity to waste and a large libido, they didn't care much about if a relationship lasted past an hour. She, herself, wasn't even some blushing virgin, although her experience was limited. She was too busy for boyfriends and had tossed the idea aside when her first one dumped her for some blond. He hadn't been worth the hassle.

Lycans, however, were an odd species. They came from the same human design as all the others, but they usually cherished family ties and nurtured the idea that mating was a once in a lifetime thing. Mating was forever, unless one of the pair died, and forever for an immortal was a literal term. Lucian had taken a mate very young in his life and she was supposed to be it for eternity. If somehow the two of them had managed to stay alive they would to this day be bound to one another. It was a scary thought to the young woman sitting next to him. Sonja could have been as unfaithful as possible as she was a vampire and had different instincts. Lucian would have remained true to her despite anything she could have done.

Normally a vampire wouldn't understand this devotion. But Aislyn had Hunter blood and was taught by her mother, the last of the Gates. It should not have come as a surprise to her that Lucian would still think about and dote upon the memory of his mate. Of course he would be disappointed that it wasn't Sonja there when he woke up. Aislyn knew better than to assume it was because it was _her_ specifically that made him feel that way. He would have had the same reaction had anyone else been on that couch. Knowing that made Aislyn feel like an even bigger prat.

"There is nothing foolish about it," she said at last. On impulse she covered his fidgeting hands with her own, leaning her arms on her knees as well. "I'm sorry again for how I've acted. Can we forget this whole thing?"

Lucian turned his head to look at her. She seemed awfully close but somehow he didn't mind. Any closer and they could have touch foreheads. Lucian was tempted to lean just a little more to do so, just to see how it felt. He quickly resisted that urge. He usually had quite a personal bubble but Aislyn had this ability to bypass it completely. "I think perhaps that would be wise."

He slid his hands around to grip hers. "Let us go back then." He stood and pulled her up to her feet. "We will forget today and start over from tomorrow."

Aislyn thought it was rather hopelessly optimistic to think either of them would just ignore today but Aislyn knew it was useless to remain upset at a man she was becoming more and more fond of. She let him lead her out of the park instead, only interrupting their companionable silence to direct him to where she parked the car.

Part of the way there, he paused to remove his coat and throw it over her shoulders. Aislyn frowned and fingered the collar. "I'm not cold," she protested.

"Neither am I," he replied calmly, making sure she was securely in the garment. "But we are in the middle of a garden filled with humans who will be suspicious of a young woman walking around with nothing more than a t-shirt on. There's a group of them not far from us that have been acting oddly since we sat on that bench. If I give you my jacket perhaps it will appear that I'm being gentlemanly to a cold lady." He turned to continue on their way. In a very odd move, he slipped is hand into hers.

"What are you-" she started quietly.

"They are following us," he murmured without moving his lips. "I thought they seemed a bit too interested in us."

"Hunters or Slayers?" she asked in an undertone. She understood now why he had grabbed her hand. Vampires and lycans were seldom seen in the company of each other, never intimately, and especially not in public. If they had either group of human killers suspecting them, it could throw them off the scent to see such human behavior from suspected immortals.

"I'm not sure."

"I need to get a better look. We have a truce with some of the Hunters due to Mother. I might be able talk us out of this." Taking a cue from his 'together' behavior, Aislyn slid sideways in a rather playful move, pulling Lucian toward a tree. Quickly she pressed her back to it, pulling him in front of her so he was practically pinning her there. She tugged his arms around her waist and smiled up at him as if sharing a private joke. Her eyes were not on him though as they flicked toward the small group milling nearby.

There were five of them attempting to appear as though they hadn't been following the couple. She didn't recognize them and that was not promising. She couldn't tell just by looking which sect they belonged with. They seemed a bit confused about her and Lucian's behavior so that seemed a good sign. If they could convince these stalkers they were just a couple of Goths going for a stroll and not dangerous creatures, there would be no need to spill blood tonight. If not… well, these humans would be in for a very nasty surprise. Five was not nearly enough to take down both the lycan King and the daughter of the house of Tepes.

"Well?" Lucian asked closely into her ear, playing along to her scheme. Not that he found himself minding much.

"I don't know them," she admitted grimly. "And I can't tell which they are. I don't think they're from the van Helsing clan, they look much too disorganized and nervous. They're young, too. Helena never sends out such young Slayers without at least one senior member of the clan."

"Helena?"

"Helena van Helsing. She's the direct line and very dangerous; what my mother was to the Hunters. She runs her clan like a military operation. They're about the only ones who could give my coven a run for their money. We should keep moving. Take my hands and pull me away."

Lucian did so and they continued moving toward where her car was parked. They tried their best to look idle, as if they weren't aware they were being followed and weren't in any particular hurry. Aislyn occasionally glanced up at the sky as it darkened.

"Do the local Slayers know about you and your mother?" Lucian noted that there was still a little bit of sunlight but it would not last long and soon the park would be empty of all but them and their shadows.

"Unfortunately, Helena found out about us. I don't know if she bothered to alert any other clans to our existence, though. We sort of assume she didn't since she likes to keep her secrets very private. I'm a little more inclined to believe these are Hunters that are suspecting you of trying to get me somewhere private to eat me."

The park was emptying as the sun rapidly disappeared behind the buildings to the west. If they were lucky, they could merely vanish with the rest of the patrons. It seemed their little crew of stalkers thought about that, too. They were picking up their pace, following more closely.

"If this turns ugly, I hope you forgive me if I eat one of them," Lucian growled in annoyance. Aislyn shrugged without committal.

"Do what you must just leave enough so we can identify them and send their bodies back to their clan as a warning."

"I don't care for brains so a head should suffice."

Aislyn didn't bother to mask her laugh as it bubbled out. She did bite her tongue before she let out the thought that had instantly crossed her mind at his comment. She was not about to make any innuendos involving 'head' to a man she had just made up with. The closeness they were displaying was an act for the benefit of those around them and she had no right to be making such lewd comments to a friend that may not appreciate her being so forward.

"How much further?" he asked after a minute. His eyes never stopped moving as he kept tabs on where the humans were. "They're starting to try to hem us in."

"I see this," she replied. "We probably won't make it to the car before they manage to circle us. We'll have to do something stupid." She sighed as someone stepped out from behind a tree in front of them, effectively blocking their path. The immortals moved until they were about a normal body-length away before stopping and gazing at him impassively.

"May we help you?" Asilyn asked dryly, her voice bored. She raised her eyebrows at the man in question and waited with obvious impatience.

The young man suddenly held up an object in his hand and waved it at her. "In the name of our Lord, we shall smite thee, evil temptress!"

Ailsyn blinked at the thick wooden cross in the human's hand. She knew she shouldn't have made eye contact with Lucian at that moment but she couldn't help it. The moment their eyes met, the two burst into peals of laughter.

"What are you getting on about?" the woman finally managed when she had control of herself. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with her thumbs.

"I don't know how you can stand the sun, Vampire, but I shall destroy you. Back, evil beast!" He took a step forward, brandishing the cross. "You should get back, Sir. She is not human!"

"Apparently you're more transparent than I am," Lucian murmured into her ear and Aislyn fought very hard not to laugh again.

"Of all the crazy amateur Slayers out there, we get this one?" Aislyn looked skyward as if asking for patience then back at the man. His lackeys were closing in now. One of them was beckoning to Lucian urgently, obviously assuming Lucian was in some sort of danger. They all had crosses out and were waving them around as if that was going to do jack-all to their prey. Half of them held guns in their other hands, the others wooden stakes. Lucian made a note to aim for the ones with the wood first if it came to that. Bullets hurt but neither he nor Aislyn would be overly affected by them. If Aislyn were to be staked, though? Even just thinking about that made his stomach tighten.

The man had come close enough now to wave the cross in her face. Aislyn rolled her eyes. "Does that look like its working?" she snapped. The man hesitated. "You lot must have been reading some science fiction books on vampires or something. Just decided I must match something you read in the fiction section? Wave some crosses, stab me with wood and I'll just curl up and die? Then some great Slayer clan will absorb you into their numbers?" She shot her hand out and snagged the cross from him. She clenched her fingers and the cross snapped in two. She dropped the pieces at her assailant's feet and brushed her hands together to rid them of any splinters. "You lot aren't even worth our effort. Go find someone else to harass."

"I would listen to her if I were you," Lucian chimed in. "You do not want to see either of us angry, especially since I skipped dinner."

The humans looked more closely at Lucian now. His eyes had faded to black and he felt his nails starting to elongate. He could smell the nervousness and fear that was wafting off them now as they realized they may have bitten off more than they could chew.

"He's one, too!" one of them cried. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

"Am I forever bound to deal with morons?" Lucian growled, zoning in on the one that spoke. "I thought you had shown me the true nature of stupid but I must apologize, Aislyn. These men are far more foolish than you ever have been. Can't even tell the difference…"

"Apology accepted. Now we need to decide what to do with them. We can't very well let them live now that they've discovered us."

"They are far too dumb to turn," Lucian added. "I may be hungry but I very well can't eat five myself."

The vampire and the lycan shared a knowing look that was not lost on the gathered humans. The one who voiced his opinion earlier suddenly threw his weapons down and fled at top speed. His betrayal was quickly followed by the other three, leaving only the leader standing with his broken cross. The young man was trembling, rooted to the spot.

Aislyn held her hand out toward Lucian, who took it. Without letting her eyes leave the human, she passed by him, leading the lycan behind her. It wasn't until after they had disappeared out of the park that the would-be Slayer collapsed to his knees beside the cross. He didn't understand why he had been spared but that didn't matter. His mind was racing as it tried to make sense of what just happened.

His friends hadn't believed him at first when he told them he knew vampires were real. When he saw the woman with red eyes at the gardens, he called his buddies. Then that man showed up, the one with the creepy look in his eyes. They were obviously together by the lovey-dovey way they were acting. At first the Slayer figured it was her, making the man act that way so she could drink his blood. The young man knew better now. Whatever that man was – he was obviously not a vampire based on what he had said to the woman – the wanna-be Slayer had to find out. What he need was to find someone who did this sort of thing for a living.

Standing, the young man raced out of the park. He had to get home and google this. Somewhere in London or any of the surrounding townships, there had to be some expert in the paranormal that would both believe him and answer his questions.

* * *

"That was nice of you," Lucian commented as they drove back toward the coven. "We could have killed them easily."

"They were just a bunch of punk kids with a really bad idea." Aislyn shrugged, not taking her eyes off the road. "If they had actually been professionals then that would have been a much different story."

Lucian regarded her from his seat with a small smile. She was a good person. He had the sudden urge to touch her in some way that told her that he understood. He reached over to the gearshift, where her left hand was resting, and placed his on top. He didn't look at her but gazed out the window as though he was actually bored. She glanced at the hand, felt her heart jump into her throat, and then glued her eyes back on the road and let it be.

* * *

**AN:** Okay then! A second long chapter! This has a lot of inner thoughts from Aislyn. I've noticed I've been spending a lot of time on Lucian lately. He really just wants to take over the story but I keep telling him that he has to share.

Also, this is the first time in a long time I've written anything even slightly more than suggestive. So I hope the brief description of her dream came out okay.


	7. 12 25

**AN: **Thank you, Dragonheart, for reviewing. So long as there is at least one comment, I'll continue this fic. If no one is interested, then there isn't much of a point to it. But I'm glad you like it, Dragonheart666 :)

**Chapter Seven: 12/25**

A light powdering of snow, more ice than anything else, crunched underfoot as Lucian walked the perimeter of the coven complex. He was glad he chose to dress warmly that day. He may not have been as affected by the temperature as a mortal, but today was just plain frigid. He thought longingly of the fireplace in his rooms. All he really wanted to do right then was curl up with a good book by a cozy hearth.

He had volunteered to walk the edge with a couple of his men, though, and check the security of the wall in the daylight. There were a lot of things done much easier when the sun was up but Aislyn and her mother were often swamped with having to do all the daylight chores while everyone else slept. Lucian wanted to help lessen that load as much as he could. He often had his men delegated to aid Lina and Aislyn whenever they needed the extra hand. Lucian himself signed up for the labor when he had some free time.

It didn't take too terribly long to cover the distance around the coven and soon they were standing back inside the complex. Lucian dismissed his men and took his time walking back to the house, despite his wishes for a warm fire. He had some thinking to do lately and he hadn't had a good opportunity to indulge in his private thoughts. Since he often went out on patrol with his men, he had other things to think about. Now, with a free moment, he was determined to start putting in order the jumbled ideas and insights he had gained in the past month.

The Dolls were still somewhat quiet. They had only a few small skirmishes that hardly warranted his presence. Most of his day was filled with the organizing and running of patrols and helping around the house. When he was idle, he would find himself gravitating to Aislyn for company.

Lucian found his feet taking him around the side and back of the manor to where the gardens lay. They were barren and snow dusted now, but Aislyn had told him it was quiet pretty in the spring once the flowers bloomed. He wound his way through the little trails around the planters until he found a large pond and a couple benches. He brushed the powder off a bench and sat, ignoring the slightly cold damp that seeped through his pants.

The lycan took a deep breath and closed his eyes, shoving all thoughts of the war and his wolves out of his mind. His whole reason for coming out here was to organize the troubling thoughts he kept having. He had to find a reason for them and put it into some sort of perspective. He needed to understand what was going on with him lately.

To say he was confused and rattled was an understatement. Ever since he had brought Aislyn back from Victoria Tower a month ago, things had turned… not exactly weird but sometimes uncomfortable between them. It was as if they were not always quite on the same page or even in the same room when they were sitting together. Not long before they could sit at a table and work diligently for hours making plans, comfortable when silence fell as they thought. Now he felt as though they couldn't be in the same place in the quiet without a tension forming. Perhaps he was imagining it but she seemed more hesitant around him now, like she wanted to say something into the lull in conversation but just couldn't bring herself to do so. It wasn't as though they didn't enjoy each other's company, he just got the distinct impression that her mind wasn't always on what they were supposed to be doing. Guiltily, he realized his wasn't, either.

Her nearness was sometimes distracting. More than once he had to force himself back to the task at hand if she leaned over a little too closely or if her hand brushed some part of his body in accident. If she so much as put a hand on his shoulder when trying to look at something he was doing, he could feel it burn through even the thickest jacket even after she removed the hand. The most innocent of touches lingered on his skin long after she had left the room.

Lucian sighed and leaned forward in his seat, arms resting on his knees. He watched his breath swirl away in the cold December air without really seeing it. He needed to figure out what was happening to their friendship before things got out of hand.

A small voice in the back of his head was snorting derisively as he kept trying to ignore it. Finally, frustrated, he buried his face in his hands and let it speak its part. He knew damn well all of this stemmed from the fact that every day he saw her, and even every day they were apart, he was becoming more and more attracted to Aislyn.

'And why not?' the scornful little voice asked. 'She's smart, she's pretty, and she fights like a wildcat.' He tried to argue that he had only known her for a short time, not nearly enough to really know her. Three months in a lifetime of 600 some odd years was only a blink of an eye.

'And how long did it take you to fall for Sonja?' the voice asked. 'Three days, wasn't it? Three days and you knew it would be her. Three months is an eternity to that.'

Lucian stood with a growl, letting his hands smooth back his loose locks. He quickly clammed up the voice of reason and shook his head to himself. He was not about to let infatuation win out right then. Yet, he could usually hold intellectual conversations with her that would keep his interest past when they should have dropped the subject and moved on to do something productive. That was something he longed for in all his years of hiding, someone to share ideas with who had more than a menial intelligence. But he knew this went far beyond that, now.

He was often overcome with urges to touch her, hold her, be near her. He wanted to run his hands through her hair and take in her lovely scent, a mixture of green apple shampoo and the cinnamon she liked to put in her coffee. His body was starting to react whenever he let his guard down around her and it was disturbing to feel things he hadn't felt in so long. More than once he had started to get the nerve to talk to her about his feelings but held back. She had mentioned how she treasured their growing friendship since she had so few friends as close as him. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that for her so he bottled up how he felt and smiled the way a good friend would smile.

His feelings, as natural as they were, did make him feel guilty to an extent. He had loved Sonja so desperately that he had been willing to give his own life to avenge her death. He put his people into a war that waged for centuries all because of the death of his mate at the hands of Viktor. In a way, he felt as though he was betraying Sonja's memory each time Aislyn's mere entrance into a room made him giddy.

With a deep sigh, Lucian headed back up the paths toward the house. He didn't really feel any more resolved on his thoughts but he was starting to feel the cold and didn't want to freeze to death after having survived all these years. He figured he would just have to keep on doing exactly what he was doing: giving Aislyn her space in hopes that perhaps she would feel the same about him one day. Maybe when this war was over he could propose to her to settle down with him, even if - and the thought nearly broke his heart – as friends only. But a life lived with her platonically was better than a life away from her, he reasoned. At least he could watch over her that way.

He pushed open the front door and paused on the threshold. Inhaling deeply, Lucian frowned. The manor smelled slightly of popcorn. He knew well enough that Aislyn ate a variety of foods just because she liked the taste and not because it did anything for her nutritionally, but he had yet to hear her even mention popcorn as being one of her peculiarities. As far as he knew, her biggest thing was the lime Jell-O, just as Vlad was partial to cheesecake and Lina could not go without her apples. Additionally, no one in his pack liked corn much, even popped and covered in butter and salt.

Following his nose out of curiosity, the lycan mounted the stairs and headed to the right. The smell seemed to be coming from a room on the right hand side of the hallway, across from a large door Aislyn had told him led to her mother and father's chambers. Although he had been warned to stay out of Vlad's downstairs studies, no one said he wasn't allowed in any of the upstairs rooms. In fact, Lina had told them they were welcome to explore the junk rooms if they were bored.

Tentatively, Lucian glanced up and down the hallway at the deserted corridor before trying the handle. It was unlocked and he pushed the door open slowly.

Sitting on a large, woven rug, popcorn scattered around them and piled into large, plastic mixing bowls, was Aislyn and her mother. Lina had popcorn in her hair from where Aislyn had chucked it only moments before. Spread across their laps and half the floor were long lines of popcorn being strung on some thread. They looked up as he entered and smiled a welcome.

"Don't step on any," Lina warned as he picked his way across the floor and finally managed to find a seat on a couch not covered in popcorn strings.

"What in the world are you two doing?" he asked once he had settled himself.

"We have t-minus two weeks until Christmas," Lina announced, popping another piece of fluffy white onto her string. "We are decorating!"

Lucian blinked a few times, watching as the two women deftly plucked popcorn out of the bowls and added them to their lines. "Christmas? You celebrate Christmas?"

"Only the 'everyone gets together, gives gifts, and gets drunk' part," Aislyn confirmed. "Not the whole Jesus part."

Lucian considered that for a moment. "So a lot like most Christians, actually." He was rewarded by a hail of popcorn. Flicking it off his lap, he watched them for a moment longer. Aislyn was diligently building popcorn garlands, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was watching her so intently.

"So, I take it by your comment that you do not celebrate the birth of the human's lord?" Lina asked conversationally, breaking Lucian out of his staring. He mentally shook himself and met the woman's eyes. She had the knowing expression again that had a tendency to irritate him. She had seen him watching her daughter and was almost smug about it.

"Of course not," he responded instead, ignoring her superior glances as he usually did. Whatever private little joke she had going was not really any of his business. He wasn't going to rise to her games if he could help it. That was probably what she wanted and he would be damned if he would give Gates that sort of satisfaction. "I have no reason to believe this man is a god when I have lived for as long as I have."

"Well, I'm inclined to called Bull on it, too," Aislyn chimed in as she tied off the end of her string, completing the home-made garland. "We all are. But it's still fun to give gifts and Daddy usually throws a big party. With all your wolves, it will be quite an event this year. Invitations will be going out soon if I'm not mistaken." Aislyn lifted her garland to eye her handiwork. Satisfied, she stood in a fluid motion and moved to a tree Lucian hadn't noticed at first.

He realized, with hidden embarrassment, that the moment he had entered, his entire focus was settled on the younger vampress. He took a look around and realized he was sitting in what appeared to be a decent sized library, about the same length as the hallway and half as deep. There were no windows but a fireplace sat cold in one wall. Apart from the books there were a number of couches and chairs, reading lamps, and potted plants. He noticed, with some amusement, that Aislyn had already decked out the house plants with smaller popcorn strings.

"We usually hold our private Christmas in here," Aislyn was explaining as if he had asked her a question. "Just the family. There are too many coven members to really give gifts to everyone but Daddy sends out bonus checks to each member to thank them for their contribution to the safety of the complex."

"Sounds cozy," Lucian murmured. Although the fireplace was cold, the room was rather warm, making him feel like he wanted to take a nap. He was still fully dressed from being outside, though, and worked to peel off the layers of clothing, depositing them on the cushion beside him. Down to the bottom layer, he felt much better and a lot less sleepy.

"I think that will about do it for the corn," Aislyn said as she stepped back to assess her handiwork. The tree sagged under the weight of so many other bobbles and lights already that the popcorn made it look completely downtrodden. Lucian chuckled while Lina surveyed the tree with a face set in seriousness.

"Once you father wakes up, we will have him put the star on and it will be perfect," the mother finally agreed, standing up amongst the mess of popcorn around them. She cast a glance in Lucian's direction then back to her daughter. "I've got this mess if you two wanted to go do something else for a bit." Her eyes twinkled at Lucian and he felt a bit uncomfortable at the suggestion he saw in them.

"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to him about," Aislyn mused. Picking her way across the floor, she beckoned for Lucian to follow her. She led him out of the study and across the hallway to her chambers. Without a word, she unlocked the door and went inside. Lucian closed the door behind them as she took up her perch on the couch they usually occupied when visiting in her rooms. He flipped the lock then sat next to her, settling his weight into the familiar cushion like so many times before.

At first she just sat back, propping her fit up on an ottoman. He traced the line of her jaw with his eyes, waiting for her to spit out whatever it was. They were alone again and he really didn't want his mind to start wandering to matters not appropriate.

"I figured you didn't celebrate Christmas, or any holiday really," she started a bit slowly. "I was hoping you would be willing to join us this year."

Lucian frowned a bit. "I can hardly back out of a party thrown by the man who is currently paying for my keep."

That damnable silence returned and Aislyn still hadn't looked directly at him. She pursed her lips and finally turned her head to catch his gaze. He had one elbow propped up on the back of the couch, head leaning against his hand. She thought she caught something peculiar in his eyes but it vanished almost instantly and she played it off as a trick of the light.

"Every year," she continued, this time with an air of exasperation, "I'm expected to be escorted." When he didn't respond to this, she tried to elaborate a bit. "As the daughter of the house, Father thinks I would look best not alone. He's old fashioned; he thinks I need an escort, a date, to look out for me. Honestly, he treats me like a child. I'm not some seventeen year old bimbo going to my first Christmas dance! I'm over thirty, for God's sake!" She kicked the ottoman to the side and drew her socked feet up under her so she was leaning a little more closely toward Lucian. Although he hadn't expressly asked her age at any point in their association, he had already figured that based on what he knew of Lina's age.

"I know that these events and gatherings really aren't your bag but will you come with me so my esteemed and overbearing Papa won't pick some dried up vampire to accompany me and make my night hell? He's done it before."

She looked at him so eagerly that, even if he didn't want to go, he wouldn't have been able to refuse. As it was he was pleased she had thought of him. "Would i have to do anything official?"

At this her eyes turned mischievous. "Only dance with me," she said slyly.

"Heaven forbid," he joked back, smiling. "I would be more than happy to go with you and keep your virtue guarded against musty old vampires." The smirk on his face spoke of the irony in his statement. He was older than almost everyone else in the complex, with the exception of Vlad and possibly a few others such as Nagire.

Her breath exploded in a grateful sigh. "Thank you! You're much better company than any of those business men I usually get stuck with."

"My pleasure," he murmured, nodding his head. "I've never been to Christmas festivities so this will be a learning experience." He hesitated. "Am I required to gift anything to the hosts?"

Aislyn chuckled and shook her head. "You don't even have to get me anything if you don't want to," she said. "We do gift exchanges among the family because of mother, I think. Christmas was a big holiday for her family and she missed it when she moved in with my father. I think he incorporated it into the life of the coven for her. Since then everyone has had such a good time with it that it sort of stuck. No one expects anything from someone who doesn't usually partake in the holidays."

"I never had reason to. Life was not exactly something to celebrate," he replied somewhat darkly.

With a soft look, Aislyn reached over and brushed a tendril of his hair back behind his ear from where it was threatening to fall into his eyes. "I hope now you'll feel a little more in the holiday spirit."

He caught her hand automatically and gazed into her face for a long moment. His thumb was moving of its own accord, stroking the back of her hand lightly. He wasn't sure what to say to that and was very tempted to show her instead how he felt about being here now. He had about made up his mind to pull her forward when a light rap on her door interrupted their intense eye-lock. He released her hand as she called for whoever it was to identify themselves.

"I'm just making sure nothing's going on in there that will make your father angry," Lina called in a sing-song voice. "And I need your help with the invitations, sweetie."

Aislyn grumbled something not at all flattering under her breath and stood from the couch. "I hate my parents," she added, cheeks pink as she made her way to the door to unlock it and let Lina in.

The elder Hunter winked saucily at Lucian before snagging her daughter's wrist and pulling her out the door. Lucian was left alone on the couch in a mix of both relief and disappointment. If Lina had waited any longer to interrupt, he was almost certain to have kissed Aislyn. He felt a bit of relief because he wasn't sure if that would have upset Aislyn but disappointed that he hadn't been able to act on his feelings.

With a sigh, Lucian lay back on the couch, gazing up at the ceiling. He folded his arms behind his head and thought about the upcoming holiday. She said he didn't have to get anyone anything since he didn't usually celebrate. This year, though, he was going to. He would be damned if he wasn't going to find something to give to Aislyn.

Shopping wasn't a promising thought for him, though. He didn't like large crowds of humans shoving and pushing to get to the stores. He also had no idea what she would want. Money wasn't an issue. He hadn't been around for six centuries without some fiscal responsibility. He probably had enough money stowed in the banks to support his own coven.

What would she want, though? He looked around her room at the shelves of books and decorative armor that hung on the walls. She had a rack near one of the windows full of a variety of weapons she didn't use on a regular basis. She had a few paintings of landscapes. Nothing really stood out to him.

Aislyn never wore jewelry. He was pretty sure she didn't own make-up. Most of her wardrobe consisted of t-shirts and cargo pants. In her free time she usually was either practicing her combat skills or reading. There were so many books in this house, though; he doubted there was anything she didn't have.

Standing from the couch, he moved toward the weapon rack. There were axes, glaives, daggers, and guns all jumbled together in an order only Aislyn understood. He did notice something was missing and a thought occurred to him. It had been a while since he had made anything.

* * *

A week later the snow was deep enough that children were building snowmen and having massive scale wars in the parks. It swirled down from the air in big, fat, lazy flakes to stick to anything and everything it could. Lucian was getting tired of brushing them off his eyelashes and thought that the next time he went out on a patrol he was going to wear a hat with a brim.

The two members of his pack with him had started up an impromptu snowball fight behind him, dumping handfuls onto each others' heads and trying to shove it down one another's shirts. He let them continue with their childish game, amused despite himself. The streets were bustling with people who chuckled at the grown men playing in the snow. This Christmas spirit thing was becoming infectious.

They were paused outside a small café, deciding whether or not to take a rest when the door to the business opened to allow a patron out. In that brief moment when the human exited the building, Lucian heard a faint but familiar laugh from inside that made his heart beat faster. Aislyn?

Signaling to his men to follow, he went inside and looked around. Standing near the barista, chatting good naturedly with the woman behind the counter, was the vampire he hoped would be there.

"Lucian!" Lina's voice called from somewhere in the crowds of people. He saw a hand jut into the air and wave him over. He and his men squeezed past the crowd to a table Lina was sitting at. Aislyn, having heard her mother, turned as well to see the wolf. She smiled widely at him, took her drink from the barista, and moved to join the small group now seated around the table.

"Braving the crowds for coffee?" Lucian asked once Aislyn sat next to him. He took a polite sip of the mocha she offered and passed it back. He wasn't surprised at all to taste the cinnamon. He also noted she set it directly between them as a silent invite to share it with her. Lucian saw Lina's eyes flicker between the coffee and her daughter then sparkle with their usual private laughter.

"We're actually doing some shopping," Lina explained as she pushed a tray of cookies and muffins at the other two lycans. They glanced at Lucian for permission and he nodded. The lycan king glanced down at the floor by the table legs and saw bags sitting there. One of them, he noted with interest, looked like it was from a well known dress shop. His eye flicked to Aislyn but she was watching the other lycans debate which flavor of muffin tasted better. They were bickering in good nature and Aislyn recognized them as the twins that had come from Hungary with Lucian.

"There's only a week left to get everything ready," Aislyn added, taking a drink of her coffee. Lucian took it from her before set it back down, helping himself. It was addicting stuff, he had to admit.

"Nothing says Christmas like waiting until the last minute." Lina chuckled and snagged a muffin from the tray. "You boys out on a patrol?"

"Yeah, although we're almost finished," one of the two brothers said between bites. Aislyn never could tell who was who. He checked his watch. "Next group takes over in half an hour. Our route takes us right to the edge of Daniel's territory then we're done."

"Do you have time to be consorting with the likes of us, then?" Lina asked.

"They've been quiet for a long time," Lucian said softly, taking another drink then handing it to Aislyn. She sipped a bit then helped herself to a cookie. "It's not even a kilometer to Daniel's turf. We can make the time up. They will patrol even if we don't meet up with them, anyway."

Aislyn nodded absently as she finished her cookie. She swirled the coffee cup around a bit before downing all but the last mouthful. She handed it to Lucian, who obligingly finished the drink. "I think we're parked on his land, actually. We can walk with you back to the car and give you a lift home." She turned her eyes to her mother. "I'm pretty sure we got everything on our lists for today, right?" Lina nodded and Aislyn stood up from her chair. "Good. Shall we?"

They stood, and Lucian made a quick motion to his men to grab the parcels before either woman had a chance. He stooped and picked up Aislyn's things, ignoring the tut from Lina. "We are not about to make you carry it all." Lucian moved through the humans to the door, backing into it to hold it open for everyone else.

Outside, Lina took point to lead them toward the car. The twins carried up the rear leaving Aislyn and Lucian walking together in the middle. Lucian ignored any attempt Aislyn made to take some of the bags in his hands. He smirked at her whenever she tried and she eventually gave up, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. She stuck her tongue out at him, eliciting a chuckle from the elder.

It did not take long to get to the car and Lina popped the trunk with a button on her keychain. Aislyn supervised the loading of the boot and shut the lid firmly as soon as the last package was safely stowed.

The roads were busy with shoppers going to and from the stores and it took them nearly an hour to get back to the manor. By the time they arrived, all the tire tracks from when the women had left were covered in fresh snow. They parked the car in front of the house and unloaded themselves. Aislyn was heading toward the rear of the car when a loosely molded ball of snow hit her square in the face.

Everyone stilled for a moment as the brothers looked at each other in mortification. She had walked right into the snowball launched by one at the other. The woman reached up and wiped the snow away, flicking her fingers to the side to rid them of water droplets. "Who threw that?" she demanded.

As if on cue, the brothers pointed to Lucian, who turned to look at them. "I did not-" he started to say as he spun back toward Aislyn. He was cut off by the snowball she quickly flung at him. It landed squarely in the middle of his face with a thwump.

Sputtering, he dashed the snow from his face and looked at her with a mixture of shock and indecision. He wasn't expecting that at all and wasn't sure what he should do. Part of him said drop it and go inside the house. But the puppy hiding behind his stern exterior overruled the logic and, before he registered what he was doing, he had grabbed a handful of snow and thrown it back.

Aislyn ducked and a squeal rang out as Lina, poking her head around the side of the car to see what was taking so long, received Lucian's snowball. Aislyn stifled a giggle at the look of surprise on her mother's face. The woman stood for a moment, the melting snow dripping off her hair. Then, she raised her keychain and pressed a button. The car beeped, signaling it was now locked. She very slowly pocketed the keys, bent down, and scooped up some snow. She deliberately shaped it into a perfect ball. She tossed it up a few times in her hand, gazing at them resolutely. Then, in a move blurred with speed, she threw it right into the face of the nearest twin. "It is on!" she announced, ducking behind the car for safety as the brothers moved to retaliate.

Aislyn, laughing, went straight for Lucian, snagged a handful of snow as she went. He barely avoided it as he swerved out of her path. His own snowball splatted against the small of her back. She bent to grab two handfuls at once, launching them sideways before she had even fully righted herself. One hit Lucian on the hip; the other flew past him to nail her mother in the side of the face as the elder woman stood to throw snow at the brothers.

Aislyn back peddled, keeping her eyes on the lycan as he advanced with a large lump of snow in his hands. She ducked under his throw but slipped on some hidden ice, going down with a soft fump into a snow bank. Taking advantage of that, Lucian rained down another clump of snow onto her as she floundered in the white powder on the lawn. She kicked out, effectively tripping him.

Lucian stumbled in the snow, trying to right himself before he went down completely. Aislyn wasn't about to let that happen and threw herself at his legs, wrapping her arms around his knees. The lycan king fell face first into the snow and tried to wriggle out of Aislyn's grip. Without waiting for him to regain control of the situation, the woman scrambled up the length of him to straddle his back. With a hoot of triumph, she grabbed handful of snow and shoved it down the back of his shirt.

Lucian gasped and flipped himself over onto his back with a burst of speed that sent Aislyn off him and into the snow nearby. He quickly rolled himself over on top of her and pinned her there, panting and laughing at the same time. She scooped up a last handful and rubbed it into his face before letting her arms flop out to either side of her body. She felt him relax too and took that moment to make her move. She hooked his leg with her calf and bridged up onto her shoulders, flipping their positions again so she straddled his lap.

Still chuckling, Lucian gazed up at her through half closed eyes. She was haloed in snow and breathing heavily. He didn't think he'd seen anything quite so lovely in a long time. Reaching up with both hands, he tucked her hair behind her ears to see her face better, and then pulled her down toward him, overcome with the need to touch her in some way. A volley of snowballs halted his progress though as Lina and the brothers came to some mutual conclusion that Aislyn and Lucian were presenting themselves as easy targets. Aislyn rolled off him and scurried away, diving behind a nearby bush to get out of the way. Lucian silently cursed his luck as he held his arms up in surrender. His will to play had left him and he was done.

The battle over, the five immortal beings went back to the car to get the packages from the boot. Covered in snow from head to foot they made their way into the house, mostly content and out of breath. Raze and a few others were sitting in the common room when the group entered and stopped their conversations to stare at the Hunters, their leader, and the brothers. Lucian ignored them while the brothers grinned and shrugged. In a wet processional, the five disappeared up the stairs to dry off and change.

* * *

Aislyn sat in front of her dresser mirror on a stool set up for just that purpose. She watched her reflection as she slowly worked out the tangles and snarls in her long, black hair. A hot shower had done wonders to reviving her after the energetic snow ball fight. Now, as she ran her brush through her damp locks, she thought about the odd ending to their vigorous exercise.

What had been Lucian's intention? He had started something right before they were attacked by her mother and the twins. That peculiar look in his eyes had returned. Usually that expression vanished the moment she noticed his eyes on her. He was rather good at avoiding the issue, hiding his true motives. What was he playing at now?

She eventually shoved the thought away into the back of her mind. It was probably nothing anyway. She had been caught up in the excitement of playing out of doors in the snow and let her inhibitions go for that brief moment. She had briefly wanted to entertain the idea that he wanted to kiss her but that was preposterous. Friends didn't just kiss their friends because of a silly snow ball fight. She was just being self serving with such thoughts.

She hadn't forgotten her dream last month and wasn't surprised to have more of them afterward. She was starting to realize that her subconscious was trying to tell her that she was attracted to her best friend. She just didn't want to admit it. The absolute last thing she wanted was to ruin what she had going with Lucian. The best way to undo their connection was to become giddy and clingy toward him so she tried her best to respect certain boundaries and didn't make any moved to let her real feelings known.

Asking him to escort her to the Christmas party had taken a lot more guts than she had let on. True, she prefaced it with the fact that if he didn't go with her, she would be forced to attend the festivities with one of her father's friends. It wasn't an enjoyable prospect. She was truly grateful that Lucian had agreed. She had spent the better part of that day getting up the nerve to talk to him about it and had been waiting anxiously for him to return from the complex perimeter.

Now that the day was only a week away, she felt the butterflies return to her belly. She paused in her hair care to look over her shoulder at where her dress hung by the closet. She was glad Lina had come with her to buy it because Aislyn very rarely wore something so fancy and needed that second opinion. As it was, it took the two women the better part of three hours to find a dress they both agreed upon.

Now she gazed at it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. She would have to wear that in front of Lucian. Normally wearing a dress was more of just a big hassle. She had to do her hair, wear heels, and pretend to be interested in the economics of her date's business ventures. This time would be different. This time she actually wanted to make a good impression for the sake of her date.

She and Lina had made the executive decision that Aislyn should wear flats this Christmas. If both Lucian and Aislyn stood next to each other barefoot, Lucian was perhaps only a few inches taller than the woman. Normally, Aislyn wore her clunky boots which added at least two inches to her normally short stature. Wearing heels though would put her taller than her date and she didn't want that.

Aislyn had also made sure that whatever dress she bought matched something she knew was in Lucian's closet. She had taken him shopping a few months ago and knew what dressy clothing he had. She was positive that he had a red dress shirt that matched the color of the satiny skirt of the dress hanging behind her. She just had to make sure he knew to wear it otherwise they might clash terribly.

Aislyn rolled her eyes and tossed her hairbrush onto the dresser. She let her head fall onto the top of the counter with a soft thud. Never before had she thought about such trivialities as matching clothing and whether or not heels would be appropriate. She even went as far as to ask her mother to borrow some jewelry. Her ears were pierced, though she hardly put anything into them, but she wanted to look especially nice on Christmas this year. She refused to admit it was because she wanted to look good for Lucian. Lina didn't ask and merely agreed to help her daughter get spruced up, that knowing look dancing around in the corners of her eyes.

* * *

Lucian glanced at the clock ticking quietly in the corner of his sitting room then back down at the elongated parcel on his coffee table. It was Christmas Eve. The sun had just set, which meant Aislyn's family had started their private gift giving in the small library across from Vlad's chambers. He wondered how long they would take before he could give Aislyn his gift, or even when he should do that at all. More than once he considered shoving it under his bed and forgetting the entire thing but he had worked rather hard on it and didn't want to just chuck the whole thing.

The party was set to start around midnight, right as it turned into Christmas. This was the reason, Aislyn explained, that they opened their gifts as soon as it got dark. Guests would be showing up shortly before that and Lucian wanted to be dressed and ready to go at least half an hour before he was expected to make an appearance. It was only now five o'clock and there were many hours before midnight in which to catch Aislyn's attention and pull her aside.

Pushing the anxiousness out of his belly, Lucian went to his book shelves and scoured the books for something to read that would take his mind off tonight. Nothing seemed to be promising and he went into his bedroom to where his personal books had been set up, the ones he brought from Hungary. He pulled down a first edition print of Dracula and reclined on his bed. This never ceased to amuse him before but he found himself distracted and unable to read more than a few pages before checking his watch.

He gave up and left the book on his pillow. He paused to check his appearance in a mirror, smoothing down hair that was never cooperative. He thought that perhaps tonight he would tie the whole mess back. He would cross that hurtle when it came, though. With one last look at the package on his table, he exited his room and headed for the commons down the stairs. There was a mixing of vampires and lycans there that, three months ago, Lucian would have called impossible.

He had watched as, slowly, Aislyn's coven and his pack intermixed and starting forming friendships. Leaning on the railing above the room, he watched in amusement as the twins flirted uselessly with a couple blond vampresses who were trying to explain the rules to a card game the four were playing. In another corner, Raze and a vampire Lucian recognized as one of Vlad's officers, were comparing ammunition rounds from clips set out on a table.

Dubas looked up from his seat on a couch and barked out a gruff command to the other wolves. The lycans' activities ceased instantly and they gazed up at their alpha as if awaiting orders. The vampires gazed around at their companions then followed their gazes up to where Lucian stood. Many of the vampires' expression turned from confusion to understanding. They had become accustomed to the behavior of the werewolves when the dominant male appeared.

"Don't mind me," Lucian called from the walkway. "Enjoy yourselves." Immediately, the activity level picked back up. Lucian descended the stairs to head toward Raze, interested in what he was up to. Along the way, he kept his ears open and overheard a few conversational remarks.

One of the blonds was leaning in to talk to Romulus, the elder twin. "You know, it's spooky how you all do that at once," she was saying in an undertone that Lucian was still able to pick up.

Remus chuckled from where he sat next to his brother. "You should see it when he walks into the room of the _entire_ pack, back at Adrian's. Now _that_ is impressive."

"It's still spooky…"

The conversation faded out of his earshot as he passed them and arrived at Raze. The second nodded a greeting as Lucian looked down at the weaponry on the table. Lucian motioned for them to continue what they were doing while he perused the various clips, exploring what was in them. He hissed as his bare fingers came into contact with the shell casing on one particular clip he was handling. He dropped it and jammed the burning fingers into his mouth, sucking on them as if that would help relieve the pain.

"Those are coated in silver," the vampire supplied when he looked at what Lucian had been touching.

"So I see now," Lucian grumbled, pulling his hand out of his mouth and rubbing his fingers together to assess damage. The ugly red marks were fading quickly from the tips and he took a moment to inspect whether or not he lost any finger prints.

"I am sorry, My Lord," Raze rumbled from across the table. "I should have mentioned that."

Lucian waved off the apology. "What else do we have here?" he asked, bringing both warriors' attentions back to the weaponry.

The lycan managed to distract himself with the gun clips for a while, withstanding the urge to check his watch every few minutes. It was almost an hour later when he heard footfalls on the stairs and turned to look, mouth going dry.

Aislyn was practically skipping down the steps, hair flowing loosely behind her. She was clad in green pajama pants, red fuzzy socks, and a white tank top that hugged her frame suggestively. Lucian swallowed quickly and kept his eyes on her face and not the chest that bounced with each step. She moved across the floor to him, smiling.

"Merry Christmas!" she announced, stopping in front of him. Without any warning, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I have something for you," she continued before he had a chance to say anything. "Come with me!" She let him out of the hug and snagged his wrist, pulling him toward the stairs.

Surprised, but secretly pleased, he let himself be tugged up the stairs and toward her room. "Wait," he said quickly, waylaying her. He detached his wrist from her hand and ran across the walkway to his rooms to get the gift he had for her. As he was bending down to pick it off his coffee table, he heard the door close behind him and turned to see Aislyn standing there with a rectangular box in her hands.

"This room will do as well as mine," she said by way of explanation. Although she looked curiously at the long, thin box on the table, she held out her gift first. Lucian took it and they sat on his couch.

It was heavy and his first thought was 'book.' It was a rather large book if that was what it truly turned out to be and he wondered what in the world she had found that he either didn't have or hadn't read yet. With careful fingers he peeled back the tape on the colorful paper and unfolded the edges. She chuckled under her breath at how gentle he was being to the wrapping paper. She usually just tore into it with no regard for saving the wrapping, but she quieted herself with the reminder that this was his first Christmas after all. He probably didn't receive many wrapped presents, anyway.

The gift was indeed a book when he finally pulled the paper away. He set it on his lap and ran fingers over the cover, frowning slightly. There was nothing written there but the leather felt odd but familiar. He tilted his head at it, then looked over at Aislyn. "Is this skin?"

"Human, yes," she confirmed, nodding. "Nagire bound it himself." She didn't elaborate further and Lucian took hold of the cover and opened it slowly.

The pages looked like they had been written on homemade paper, which added to the overall heaviness of the tome. His eyebrows rose to see it was done with type and in Latin. He ran his eyes over the cover page then looked sharply at Aislyn once more. She looked perfectly pleased with herself, barely concealing her grin behind her hands.

"This is…" he started, running his fingers gingerly over the type of the title.

"Our only written history," she said triumphantly. "Nagire has always been a history buff and wanted to chronicle our people. There are only three copies." She held up her fingers. "Daddy has one in his private library. Nagire has one in his. Now you have the third." Her hand fell to her lap.

Lucian wasn't sure what to say. He ran his tongue over his lips a few times, trying to come up with the proper words. "This is too much," he finally managed. "Too rare to give to me."

"No, it isn't." Aislyn shook her head firmly. "You will use this more than I. There are details in here of my father before he started the coven. There is stuff in here I really don't want to know, but I know you do." She paused for a moment before touching the open cover carefully. "You're in this, too, you know." At the question in his eyes, she continued. "When Nagire found you he was actually researching Viktor's people, for this book. He wanted to know what was happening with those Father created by accident. He thought it necessary to include you and the war in here, even though it did not directly affect my kind."

Again, Lucian found himself speechless. His curiosity peaked and it was all he could do to keep himself from turning to that particular section and seeing what Nagire had written. Instead, he forced himself to close the book and set it on the table as if it were made of glass. "Thank you," he said as he turned back to Aislyn. "I still think it was too much to give but I will take good care of it for you." He grabbed his parcel sitting next to the book and laid it across her lap.

The box was wrapped in simple brown paper and was about a meter long. It was heavy. Aislyn had seen it the moment she had entered and was very keen to find out what it was. Now that it sat on her lap, she took her time to open it as he had her gift.

The box was lacquered wood, dark red and dense. Two clasps held it shut on either end and she unclipped them with deft fingers. She took a breath and opened the lid to see what was inside.

Her eyes widen much as his had when he first glimpsed the book. She moved the box to the table and grasped the hilt of the long, slender sword that sat nestled in a satin pillow within the case. Standing, she lifted the sword and turned it in the light, testing its balance. She took a couple steps back away from Lucian and gave the blade a few experimental passes, marveling at how well it seemed to fit in her hand.

Carefully, she touched the edge with her thumb, satisfied to see her blood well up instantly. It was terribly sharp. She inspected the hilt and the delicate hand guard with great interest. It was designed more like a rapier, slender and fast. The blade itself was thin but strong. She gazed at it for a long moment then looked up at him just as sharply as he had when she gave him the book.

"Where in the world did you find this?"

He smiled from his seat, pleased by her surprise and admiration. "I made it."

"You _made_ it? Lucian, this is silver!" Aislyn moved back to the box and set it carefully back within its protective pillow.

"I was once a blacksmith in Viktor's coven." He stood and moved toward her. "I long ago learned how to work silver without too much personal injury."

"And you say that my gift was too much." She crouched to finger the hilt in its case once more. This had taken some time and effort. She suddenly realized why he had been harder to find lately. He must have been off crafting it in the complex's forge.

"I noticed you were missing something in your arsenal," Lucian said, brushing aside her comment. "This may not be an Animus blade, but it will do you as well as your mother's sword does her." He paused to gaze down at where she knelt. "All we need now is the proper sheath for it." He moved out of her plane of vision but she was too engrossed in the weapon to notice where exactly he went.

"I'm sure my father has something that would work…" she halted as his hand came under her arm and pulled her gently to her feet. From behind she felt his arms circle her waist and something light but firm touched around her hips. Looking down at the circle of his arms she saw a belt being fastened around her middle, the sheath hanging over her left hip.

"Like I would give you a sword without the proper adornments," he murmured in her ear with mock scorn. Once his fingers finished the buckle, he pulled his hands away, letting them linger on her hips perhaps a fraction of a second longer than appropriate.

Aislyn took the sword up again as Lucian moved away back to the couch. Carefully, she fit the blade into the scabbard, feeling it click into place with a perfect fit. "Did you make this, too?" she asked, fingering the silver gilt on the hard casing.

"Yes." He watched her as she drew and sheathed her sword a few times, testing the smoothness of the movement. Although it was not her choice weapon, he could tell she knew how to use one. He would imagine with Lina for a mother, she would have to practice swords with the woman.

Finally, she unbuckled the belt and carefully put the entire bundle on a nearby table. She sat next to him and, impulsively, reached out to hug him again. "Thank you," she murmured into his ear as he squeezed her back. "It's beautiful."

"It fits you," he replied before he checked himself. He pushed her back slightly to see her face. "I suppose now is when I wish you a Happy Christmas?"

"Traditionally," she said with a smirk.

"Well, then, I would hate to mess with that. Happy Christmas, Aislyn."

"And to you." She leaned in and touched her forehead to his. "I'm glad you're here."

Lucian chuckled. "Me, too."

She was close enough he could feel her breath on his lips and he wondered if he dared to move that last few inches. His decision was made up for him, though, as a door bell rang from somewhere in the house. Aislyn pulled back, releasing him with a frown.

"It's too early for guests," she noted, looking at his clock.

Leaving their things where they were, they left Lucian's room and practically jogged down the stairs. Someone was half dragging a very snow-covered something into the main room. They deposited it on a couch right as Lucian and Aislyn arrived.

"Someone get a blanket!" Aislyn barked as Lucian crouched at the person's feet, lifting the chin to look into the face.

"Trina?" Lucian brushed some blonde locks tinged with red out of the girls face and looked at the blood left on his fingers. "What happened?" he demanded as her eyes focused on him.

"I ran away," she whimpered. Someone deposited a blanket around her shoulders and she gripped it tightly, shivering.

"I see that," Lucian said, holding back an impatient tone as best he could. "Why?"

"Grandfather. He's getting worse." She shuddered, from fear or cold Lucian could not tell.

"Tell me what happened," he said again, more gently this time. He looked up briefly to catch Aislyn's eyes.

"I'm going to get her something warm to drink," the woman offered before vanishing into the kitchen.

"He was going on about you and the vampires and how all this was a waste of time and resources." She clutched at the blanket more firmly, her hands shaking. "All the alphas got the invitations, of course. He said it was disgraceful to be expected to come at the beck and call of a vampire. I told him it wasn't for them but for you we were doing this." She paused here, swallowing hard. She seemed mortified that she had thought to speak back to her grandfather in such a way. "I told him we should listen to you and do what we're told. You're our king, it's our duty."

Aislyn returned with a steaming mug of tea held in her hands. She knelt down beside Lucian and pressed the mug into Trina's trembling fingers. The girl looked gratefully at the vampress before taking a sip of the warming liquid. Lucian could smell chamomile and something stronger he didn't recognize. He glanced at Aislyn with question and saw her mouth 'poppy.' He nodded almost imperceptibly. The herbs were strong ones and the tea would help calm Trina's shaky nerves.

"Go on, please." Lucian urged after Trina had finished at least half of her mug. She seemed to be shivering less as her body temperature rose toward normal and the calming herbs kicked in.

"He told me I shouldn't be so impudent, that I was a disgrace and an embarrassment to him." She looked down, her bottom lip starting to shake. "He told me if I wanted to go be their lapdog I was welcome to but not to come crawling back to him when things didn't turn out how I wanted them."

"Why are you bleeding?" Aislyn prompted quietly, pushing Trina's bangs back to see the long, angry streaks slowly healing under her scalp line. Head wounds always took a while to seal over and bled like stuck pigs. They seemed to be taking care of themselves, though, so the older woman didn't bother trying to speed up the process.

"I told him I'd rather go live with Uncle than be forced to follow him for the rest of my life. I said it was better to die fighting for our people than to live like a coward under the ground." One very fat tear slid down Trina's cheek. "Then he…" she made a vague motion to her forehead and Aislyn frowned, inspecting the wounds again.

"These were made by transformed claws," the vampire stated bluntly. She had seen enough lycan-inflicted wounds lately to know the difference between extended nails and full on claw-marks.

"He morphed," the lycan replied quietly then finished her tea in one large gulp. "I thought I was dead at first." The woman fingered the mug's handle carefully for a moment before looking hopefully at Aislyn. "Can I… can I stay here? I don't have anywhere else to go…"

Lucian reached out a hand and placed it on Trina's shoulder. "Your loyalty in face of such a monster as my brother is admirable. I would be honored to have such courage in my pack." He stood from his crouch, Aislyn following his example. He looked around and spotted Raze hovering nearby as usual.

"Really?" Trina hiccoughed, the tears flowing more freely now as all the anxiety and negative emotions released at once. She snagged his hand and kissed it a few times. "Thank you! I won't let you down!"

Lucian carefully extracted himself from the crying girl and nodded. "Raze, Dubas. With me, my chambers. Now." He turned to Aislyn with an apologetic look. "Can I ask you to…" he motioned to his sobbing niece.

"Of course." Aislyn was already moving to sit next to Trina, wrapping an arm around the younger woman's shoulders and pulling her closer in comfort.

After the men had left and Trina had finally run herself down into mere sniffles, Aislyn urged her to stand and follow. The vampire led her up to her own quarters. The elder woman dug around in a cupboard for a moment before coming out with a large, fluffy towel. She pressed it into Trina's hands.

"Take a bath, relax for a little bit. I'm going to go speak with my mother and see if we can find you something clean to wear. You're a bit smaller than most of us but I think my sister-in-law is about your size. She should have something that will fit."

As Aislyn turned to leave, she heard Trina call out a 'thank you.' The vampire smiled over her shoulder at the girl and left without another word. She made straight for the library she had left her family in not long before. They were still there, as she suspected, relaxing in the familiar comfort.

"There you are," Lina commented as Aislyn shut the door behind her. "I was wondering what was taking you so long. Who was at the door?"

Aislyn quickly explained what had taken place then turned to a small, olive-skinned woman sitting beside Nagire. The woman's dark brown eyes shone with sympathy as Aislyn explained who Trina was and what had happened to her.

"Poor thing," the woman murmured when Aislyn had finished. "I'm sure I have something she can wear." She stood then stooped to kiss Nagire on the forehead, promising to return shortly. She exited with Aislyn and they moved further down the hall to the rooms Nagire occupied.

It didn't take them long to shift through the dressers and come up with something comfortable. The dark woman followed Aislyn back to the younger vampire's quarters. They found Trina soaking in a bathtub filled with bubbles. The lycan looked a bit shyly up at both the vampires, cheeks pink.

"I've never had bubbles," she said in a small voice. Aislyn chuckled and the other woman smiled.

"Trina," Aislyn said, turning to the other vampire. "This is Tekala, my sister-in-law."

"Aislyn told me what happened. I'm more than happy to help. These should fit nicely." She hefted the bundle of clothing and set them on the counter near the sink. "Will you be coming to the party tonight?"

Trina blinked a few times. "Am I invited?" she asked tentatively.

"You're a member of Lucian's pack now," Aislyn reminded her.

"I don't think I can. I don't have anything…"

Tekala tutted from near the sink. "The number of parties I've been to, I have so many dresses!" she spun to look at the she-lycan. "Actually, I think I have the perfect thing for you. Your eyes are such a startling color, it will work great. When she's done here," Tekala continued, turning to Aislyn, "send her my way."

Aislyn nodded as her sister-in-law swept from the room. "I'll be in my bedroom when you're all finished. Call if you need anything."

When Trina emerged from the bathroom, Aislyn was working on pinning her hair up in some complicated knot. A slew of bobby pins were sticking out of her mouth in such a way that it looked like she was trying to swallow a hedgehog. A red and black dress was hanging up on a rack not far away and Trina went to look at it.

"You should just wear your hair down," the lycan suggested after taking a good look at the garment.

"Murf?" Aislyn glanced over at her, one hand twisting the bun around while the other reached for a pin.

"Well, I can't exactly speak for my uncle since I don't know him that well, but a lot of our men like loose hair."

Aislyn finally managed to get her hair into place and spat out the other pins. "What makes you think I'm doing my hair for your uncle?"

Trina looked slightly taken aback. "Oh. Sure." She didn't sound convinced and Aislyn rolled her eyes.

"I'm not," Aislyn defended firmly, looking at her reflection to see how her hair sat.

"Mm." Trina looked again at the strapless dress.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the vampire snapped as she brushed bobby pins into the top drawer of her desk.

"I'm sorry," Trina said in a tone that wasn't really all that apologetic. "I should know better than to listen to rumors."

"What rumors?" Aislyn was starting to feel exasperated.

"That you're…" she made a vague sort of gesture then started to vigorously towel her short hair.

"That we're what?" Aislyn frowned. "What're they saying?"

"Well, the main rumor is that you guys are mated, but the alphas know that's not true. They can tell that sort of thing and it's obviously not the case." Trina plopped down at the edge of Aislyn's bed. "Can I use your brush?"

The vampire handed it over and watched as the girl tamed her hair. The blond locks had spiked from the towel but were quickly lying flat again.

"The other rumor is that you're in the pre-mating stages. You know: courtship."

Aislyn snorted and took her brush back once Trina had finished. "That's ridiculous." She turned back to her mirror and checked her hair again. "We're just friends." Pulling a face, Aislyn started to unpin her hair and shake it out. Maybe she would just curl the ends and pull back the hair at her temples? That would look nice with her dress.

Trina tossed the towel in a hamper and stood from the bed. "I guess I'll leave you to it, then. Where is Tekala's room?" Aislyn gave her directions and turned back to the mirror, lips thin with thought.

So the packs thought they were together, did they? Let them think what they wanted. She would hold firm to the conviction that she and Lucian were only friends. The lycans would see that for themselves at the party, anyway, so there was no point making a fuss about it now.

* * *

Lucian stood at the base of the stairs, leaning against the banister in an attempt to look like he wasn't nervous. He had settled on not doing much of anything with his hair besides pulling the sides away from his face in his usual style. Following instructions from Aislyn, he was wearing the red vest and tie under a black dress jacket.

His wolves and a few other guests were loitering in the commons as the party had not yet officially started. A number of the alphas from other packs had decided to attend with small entourages of higher ranking pack members. Daniel had brought his entire den, but he had a pack only two or three members larger than Lucian's.

Nagire stood nearby, occasionally making friendly remarks to Lucian about this or that. The lycan replied in kind, enjoying the distraction his old acquaintance was giving him.

"Ah, I see my wife," Nagire announced, moving away from the lycan to wait for her at the bottom of the stairs. "Your niece makes a fine figure, too," he added when he saw the company Tekala was with.

The two short women descended the stairs, arms linked and chatting as if they had been friends forever. Tekala's bubbly and naturally friendly nature seemed to lend well to making friends and it had only taken a few moments for the two women to decide they liked each other.

Trina was dressed in a green, gauzy frock that Tekala hadn't worn in years. It fit her as if made for her, giving the lycan an aura of being much older than she was. Lucian was impressed and greeted his niece with a warm smile. She returned it, waved good-bye to Tekala and went to settle herself on a couch to wait. The lycans would not enter the ballroom until Lucian did out of respect for their leader. The elder vampire and his wife disappeared into a far door to the right of the room that Lucian had not gone through before. He knew from talking to Nagire that it led to the ballroom where the party would be taking place.

As Lucian went back to waiting, Trina watched as the large, black lieutenant sat next to her. He wore a simple black suit with no tie but a collard white shirt buttoned at the Adam's apple. Trina thought it looked rather dashing on the quiet man. They said nothing for a very long time, waiting as patiently as possible for the proceedings to begin.

"You look nice."

Trina jumped at the unexpected gravelly complement. "Oh. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Lucian watched his second sitting awkwardly by his niece and hid a smile. Raze looked up, caught his eye, then gazed purposeful to the stairway. Lucian, taking the hint, looked up as well and very firmly kept his jaw from dropping.

Aislyn stood at the top of the steps, hand on the railing to make her way carefully down the stairs. Lucian had never seen her in anything but pants and was surprised that this was the same woman. She had kept her hair down, as per Trina's suggestion, and it bounced around her bare shoulders with a slight curl. He noted a sparkle at her ears and realized he didn't know she had them pierced until now. She was not the most feminine of women when it came to everyday wear.

As she reached the bottom, he held out a hand to help her off the last step. Unable to take his eyes off her, he brought the hand to his mouth to kiss it lightly before lifting it to spin her around once. She obliged before settling in front of him.

"You look splendid," he murmured, looking her up and down in noticeable admiration.

She dipped slightly in thanks, grinning. "You don't clean up half bad yourself."

Lucian tilted his head at her. "You're… shorter," he commented.

"Flats."

"Ah." He continued to stand there, looking her over as if trying to memorize what she looked like at that exact moment. At last he shook himself out of his stupor and pulled her hand through his arm. "Shall we, then?"

"Let's shall." Aislyn beamed at him, liking the way she felt settled on his arm like a lady. Her life was such a chaotic, militaristic affair it wasn't often she acted like the nobility she was. Not that she wanted to on a normal basis, but with Lucian it was different. She couldn't explain how, but it was.

"I would be honored to walk you in," Raze said, offering his arm stiffly to Trina. The girl blinked, then took it and they stood together. He was terribly tall compared to her but she didn't mind. He was nice to offer.

The ballroom was well lit and filled with vampires when the lycans entered. There was a lull in conversation as Lucian escorted Aislyn into their midst. Lina made a motion with her hand and things picked back up almost instantly.

Lucian and Aislyn made their way over to a table laden with snacks and drinks. Neither had eaten much lately in anticipation of the event and were intent on the buffet. Lucian excused himself to get some drinks while Aislyn filled a small plate with bite sized goodies. There were cakes, candies, sweetmeats, fruits, breads, and just about anything imaginable. Vlad had not held back in his preparations. When the lycan returned he pressed a goblet of thick red liquid into her hand in exchange for the plate of food.

"I'm not having you pass out on me tonight," he joked as she raised an eyebrow at the blood.

"I don't plan to be on you tonight at all," she quipped back before she could hold her tongue. Lucian choked on a piece of meat he had just popped into his mouth. He glanced sidelong at her and saw the saucy smirk that reminded him strongly of Lina. She did drink the blood, though, without any fuss. She frowned slightly as she finished the drink, setting it aside and licking her lips.

"Everything alright?" He asked when she didn't say anything.

"Can you get me another glass?" She had a very thoughtful look on her face and Lucian set the plate aside to do so. Returning, he handed her the glass and she downed it more slowly, as if taking her time to actually taste the liquid. "Thought so," she sighed when it was done. To his questioning expression, she flicked her eyes toward her mother. "She's spiked it. I swear she does that every year. Vodka, this time I think."

"Your mother spiked the punch?" Lucian raised an eyebrow. "A bit juvenile isn't that?"

"It's my mother. She likes to play Dance Dance Revolution after taking Jell-O shots. I guess it happens when you're turned so young."

Lucian nodded absently and found himself sniffing his own drink carefully. He had gone for what he had assumed was actual punch. He took a sip and chuckled. "Looks like she hit this, too. Any guesses what she put in here?"

Aislyn took a sip of his drink and pulled a face. "Bacardi 151 rum. Is she trying to get everyone drunk in as little time as possible?"

Lucian shrugged and took the drink back. "It's not that bad."

"I'll ask you again then after you've had a few." Aislyn went back to their snack plate, sharing it between them. Lucian eventually left to refill their drinks and Trina wandered over to chat for a bit. Lina came over after a while, too.

"You should dance," her mother encouraged as Lucian returned with punch for both himself and Aislyn. She had drunk enough blood to satisfy her nutritional requirements for the time being and was willing to have some of the alcoholic fruity juice. "You two are stuck over here like wallflowers. Everyone is going to think you're not having any fun."

"We're having fun," Aislyn objected, looking at her mother through slightly unfocused eyes. How much vodka was in that blood? It was starting to go to her head to the point where she hardly tasted the rum in the punch.

"Then go dance! This is a good song!" Lina practically shoved her daughter at Lucian, who had to hold his drink up to avoid spilling it. The lycan caught Aislyn with his other arm and blinked at Lina in surprise. The woman flounced off without another word, looking for her husband to try to coerce him into a dance, too.

Lucian set his drink aside and motioned toward the dance floor in question. Aislyn shrugged and took his hand. "I suppose I did say you were required to dance with me," she mused as he pulled her into closed position.

"I do remember something about that, yes. Traditionally, it is expected and now is as good a time as any." He took a few experimental steps, feeling for the rhythm and for her willingness to follow his lead.

"Just don't step on my feet. I imagine your experience with dancing isn't very extensive."

Lucian chuckled at her as he spun her around easily. "Then you will be surprised by my natural ability. I never step on toes."

Meanwhile, back at the tables laden with goodies, Trina stood watching them with a tilted head. "You must admit, they do look cute together," she commented idly to Raze, who had returned to her side not long after Aislyn and Lucian waltz off. "I don't know why he doesn't just do something about it."

"Yes," he replied in his usual monotone. "It is frustrating to watch him pretend there is nothing there."

"She's the same, claims they're 'friends.'" At that Trina made little quote marks with her fingers. "It's like they're the only two who _don't_ notice the love-struck looks they send at each other when they don't think the other is looking."

"Tell me about it." Lina walked up beside them, sipping a drink. In her other hand she held the sticks of numerous little cocktail wieners. Her quest to pull her husband into a dance obviously failed. "I wish they'd just get on with it."

Raze shifted uncomfortably around Lina. Three months still had not fully convinced him she was not a danger to his well being.

"Maybe he's not ready for this sort of commitment," Trina suggested, selecting a wiener when Lina offered. "I mean, its one of those forever things."

Lina nodded thoughtfully, chewing on one of her hors d'oeuvres. "Best not to rush it, I suppose. It'll happen eventually."

"You've put enough alcohol in the drinks that tonight might be eventually," Raze growled.

Lina smirked. "A little liquid courage to help smooth things over."

"It's dangerous," Raze pressed. "Even drunk, it would bind them for life."

Lina sighed and gave the large man a very level graze. "Ye of little faith in your boss. I trust them to not get carried away. I'm just trying to get them to loosen up around each other. They're so afraid to make a move its making everyone around them want to lock them up in the same room until one finally confesses."

"Oh, they've stopped dancing. Pity…" Trina sighed. "I guess looking at the snow is more interesting."

Lucian and Aislyn both caught sight of the snow falling at the same time. It was rather pretty and they stopped to watch it drift down gently outside one of the large French doors. Although the glass was frosted over, they still had a decent view.

"Hm."

Lucian glanced over at Aislyn, who was actually looking up and not out. He followed her gaze to the apex of the arched doors, eyebrows rising. "Is that…?"

"I do believe it is," Aislyn replied with a calm that was in reality faked.

"There is tradition in those little berries around Christmas time, too, isn't there?"

Aislyn nodded. "Ironic, since they're poisonous."

"As we're currently trying our best to observe traditions tonight, dare we pass this one up?"

The woman found herself laughing at his almost business-like tone. "It would be bad luck to ignore it," she answered honestly.

"Heaven forbid Baldr returns from the dead to smite us for not," Lucian murmured, turning more fully toward Aislyn. He cast his eyes quickly around and didn't see anyone paying the slightest attention to them. He wasn't aware of Lina, Raze, or Trina's sidelong glances and tittering conversation on the other side of the room.

Aislyn stood rooted in place, wondering vaguely if he was going to get on with it or not. She felt awkward enough that he had suggested they follow the doctrine of the mistletoe. She figured he would probably just peck her on the cheek or some other such nonsense, but it still didn't keep her stomach from doing back flips at the thought. Imagine her surprise then, when he suddenly slipped an arm around her waist, cupped her lightly behind the neck, and pulled her in.

His lips were surprisingly soft and Aislyn quickly got over her initial shock. She felt her body respond and she leaned forward into it, sliding her hands up his chest and around his neck. It seemed too brief when he tried to pull back and, almost aggressively, Aislyn pulled him back in. She moved her lips encouragingly against his, oblivious to the world around them.

He, too, found himself lost in everything except the kiss. He nipped lightly at her bottom lip, stroking the back of her neck lightly. What was originally intended to be only a small, relatively harmless kiss was rapidly taking on a life of its own and he had no will to stop it now that it had started. Although he had not ingested nearly enough alcohol to have serious effect on him, perhaps he had taken in enough to allow him this momentary lapse in his usual guarded nature.

So engrossed in their activity were the two that they didn't at all notice the three spies across the room. Lina had her hands steepled in front of her lips as they smiled cattishly. Trina was wiggling in place, giggling almost uncontrollably under her breath. Raze merely grunted, "About time."

"Think anyone else has noticed?" Trina asked once she had gained control of herself again.

"Probably not," Lina said doubtfully. "Most of them are too absorbed in their own happenings." She watched them for a moment longer as they seemed to be getting a little more serious. "Perhaps we should suggest they find a room?"

"Aww, but then we'd be interrupting and they probably would go back to their usual selves, blaming your alcohol on their behavior." Trina frowned at the thought.

"They need to come up for air eventually. That's all I'm saying," Lina defended.

"Let them be. Maybe if more see them, they won't hide their intentions so much," Raze supplied. He moved decisively toward Trina. "Would you like to dance?"

The young lycan agreed wholeheartedly and set off toward the dance floor with the large elder. Lina chuckled at the odd couple they were making but didn't make any comments. Instead she glanced back over at her daughter, then went searching for Vlad. Hopefully he hadn't seen this yet and she could keep him from noticing. He wouldn't be as pleased about the events as the three of them were.

* * *

Aislyn finally felt herself back away just enough to breathe. She felt an intoxication that wasn't due to the Bacardi and blinked hazy eyes up the inch or two to catch the dilated orbs of Lucian. He seemed rather taken aback with himself but looked at her with the same intensity she used on him. His cheeks were flushed beneath his beard, his breaths hallow. She could feel his pulse hammering in his neck and in his chest as it pressed against her.

She wanted to say something but found she couldn't locate her voice. Her eyes flickered over his face, resting on his lips for a long moment in which she could feel her tongue running over her own swollen bottom lip, remembering the feel of his mouth sliding over hers only a second ago. She wanted that back and had to use her whole self restraint to keep herself from pulling him back in for more. She saw him struggle with something internally, too, and hoped that perhaps he had enough words left to say something meaningful to explain what in the world had just happened between them.

"Aislyn, I-" he started in a hushed tone. He let his eye travel her face as he searched for what to say. "I-" he almost found himself apologizing for his actions but thought better of it. The look on her face was not one of anger but more of an earnest question. She looked about as lost as he felt and he wasn't sure how to express that right at that moment. He swallowed and tried again. "Ailsyn."

"Yes?" -

"That was-"

The alarm sounded. It rang with an insistence born of urgency and everyone in the ballroom froze at the irritating wail sounding over the noise of the music and chatter. Silence fell as everyone looked skyward toward the speakers blaring the noise. Then faces sought their leaders and Lucian and Aislyn broke apart as if burned, trying to organize their thoughts enough to bring order to the suddenly erupting chaos.

"Squad A, ready and report to Aislyn in the Commons!" a voice was barking over the squeal of the alarm. Lina was standing on a chair, her heels discarded somewhere. "Squad B, to me! Lycans, to your king! I need the Eagles in the air immediately! Intelligence to Vlad! Witches, to the Commons, too! You have fifteen minutes, tops, people, let's _move!"_

Lucian and Aislyn needed no second bidding. They raced from the hall with the crowd of others, making their way quickly to their rooms. Lucian didn't bother changing his pants or his shoes – he had worn his nicest pair of black boots and no one had noticed – and merely traded his vest and jacket for his long trench. He saw Aislyn's sword still sitting on his table and picked it up on his way out.

He was surprised to see her fully dressed and heading his direction the moment he stepped onto the walkway. Her ability to speed-change never ceased to amaze the lycan. He handed her the sword and wordlessly they descended the stairs to organize their gathered squadrons. Silence fell again as Lina leapt up onto a table. She held up what looked like a walkie-talkie, her face grim and somewhat confused. "Speak!" she commanded to the device.

It crackled briefly before a terrified voice came over the line. Lucian found it familiar and guessed it was one of the other alphas.

"It's not the Dolls but I don't know what the hell it is!" the voice was saying. "It's got green skin. There are humans here with some pretty big ass guns trying to kill it and my men! I don't know what side this thing is on but it's freaky."

"Is there a woman with him?" Lucian demanded before anyone else spoke. He had a very odd feeling about this. The werewolf on the line knew his king's voice and responded instantly.

"Looks like a vampire, but not a Doll," he said. "I haven't gotten a close enough look at the humans but I'm pretty sure they're Slayers. It's a big mess down here. News vans and everything are starting to show up."

"We have our coordinates. They're uploaded into your PDA's. Witches, I need you on crowd control. Squad A, your job will be to neutralize the Slayers. Squad B, we will take the… thing. Lucian, your men are yours to command." Lina looked to Lucian who was already thinking rapidly.

"Raze's half with me, Dubas' with Aislyn. I want Daniels pack and the other pack members present to stick to the vampires like glue. Protect the Squads. If these are Slayers we're dealing with, the vampires will be more vulnerable. Trina, you're to not leave Raze's side at any cost, am I clear, Young Lady?"

"Sir!" she chirped from her position behind the large, black werewolf.

"Alright," Lina hollered, bringing attention back to her. "We have large military grade trucks out front. Two per squad. Lycans, squeeze in where you can. Squad A, first two. B, second two. Eagles are in the air already and Vlad's with them. It's already three. We have four hours to get this thing under our control before that sun comes up."

Lina jumped off the table and moved purposely through the doors to the front. There was no talking as groups split and found room in the trucks. Aislyn glanced once at Lucian, caught his eyes, and felt an overwhelming urge to run to him. His steps faltered briefly at the look in her eyes, her expression mirrored on his face. The trunks thundered to life, diesel engines rumbling deeply in the dark, winter night. There was no time to spare and they parted to the separate Squads with only that look for good-bye.

* * *

**AN: **I think that's quite enough for Chapter 7.


	8. Helena

AN: Alright. Here's chapter 8! It isn't quite as long as the previous two or three chapters have been but I didn't want to get into the next stuff yet or the chapter would never end. And I'd like to make a note that, although the information about the 3rd level of Hell is accurate, the Gate I mention is completely fictitious. So don't read too much into it :)

Thank you to those who have read and continue to read my story. It does make me happy to know my ideas are liked and I'm not just doing this to be self-serving :)

And forewarning: This chapter does contain violence, blood, and a few strong swear words. I don't think it's anything the standard teen/young adult can't handle given our violent world today, but just thought I'd mention it in case anyone is queasy. Of course... if you've watched Underworld then you should be just fine. I don't think there's anything here any worse than in the movie. Anyway... onward!

**Chapter Eight: Helena**

The trucks rumbled and bounced, their large tires ignoring any potholes as they roared their way toward the site of the conflict. Aislyn sat in the back with the others, nearest the canvas flaps at the rear of the truck. Dubas sat across from her, an automatic rifle gripped firmly in his hands. He was watching her through half lidded eyes.

The driver turned slightly in his seat and called back to them to ready themselves, they were nearly there. Aislyn stood from her seat and peeled her jacket off, tossing it onto the seat. She didn't want it in her way during this fight. A number of gun holsters and knife sheaths sparkled in the moonlight that managed to shine through the space between the flaps. With deft fingers, Aislyn belted her sword to her hip and turned to address the vampires and lycans in the truck with her. She flipped her com-link on so those in the second truck could hear her, too, via the walkie-talkie one of the other commanders had.

"We are to neutralize the Slayers," she started, swaying with the motion of the truck as if she didn't notice she was standing in a moving vehicle. "Kill them," she said bluntly. "They're not going to show us an ounce of mercy so there's no reason to take any pity on them. As far as we know, there are not any Hunters present. However, be aware that if word gets out that there are lycans in this fight, the Hunters will converge upon us like a swarm of bees. Kill them, too, if the opportunity arises."

The truck took a sharp corner and Aislyn paused to balance. "The paparazzi are in the vicinity," she continued. "Do NOT transform unless it is absolutely necessary to your life or the life of a comrade. A live feed of a transforming lycan is the most likely cause of Hunters showing up."

There was a brief grumbling until Dubas slammed his fist against the mental bench he sat on. "Shuddup and listen!" The lycans refused to meet his baleful eyes but quieted none-the-less. There were many wolves in the truck that were not members of Lucian's direct pack.

There was a brief crackling from Aislyn's comm. and she frowned. A voice came over it, the tone grim. "This is Eagle Two. Commander, we have visual on the suspects. Aislyn, they're Hellsing."

"Is she there?" Aislyn asked, paling. She was thankful for the darkness in the truck. She hoped her voice was really as calm as she was trying to make it. It was bad enough the vampires present had gone stiff as boards.

"I don't see her but she's a tricky bitch, isn't she."

"How many can you see?"

"Ten on the north side of the parking lot where the strangers are. Eagle One reports at least that many on the south fighting off the patrol of lycans. It seems like an awful big group of Slayers for the number of immortals they're attacking… but that thing's killed at least three already. It's fast, Ais. There's civilians and cops everywhere. This is a fuckin' mess. I see the caravan now. Be careful. Out."

The sound of a chopper whupped over head and Aislyn pulled two of her guns from their holsters. The truck screeched to a halt and, without a look back, Aislyn jumped out and looked around.

They were in the parking lot of a major shopping district. In the dim, yellow lights she could see the chaotic mix of humans and immortals struggling through the snowy expanse that was the parking lot. Much of it was churned up now into slush from the many feet running hither thither. Her people alone – some twenty vampire and lycans - outnumbered the Hellsing Slayers but that meant nothing for a group as dangerous as Hellsing. She could vaguely see the thing in the distance that was causing all this fuss but pushed it out of her mind. Lucian, Lina, and their group of twenty would be taking care of that. Her job was to plough the road, per say.

Without a second thought she raised one of her guns and squeezed off a round into a nearby Slayer. He had the gall to look surprised as he crumpled to the ground. Her shot, however, alerted nearby humans and soon they were moving toward her group, bullets whizzing by. She felt one graze her cheek and hissed. Her weapon rose automatically and dispatched the culprit.

On the perimeter of the fighting, she could see large white vans parked. There were white lights blazing and red ones blinking that indicated someone out there was trying to film the fiasco. Aislyn hoped the witches were rapidly moving into the crowd, altering minds and blocking footage. Somewhere, a voice was booming over a loud speaker to halt and desist the riot before they were forced to send in the heavy artillery. Stupid cops. She hoped they wouldn't be bringing in any big guns soon or there would be a lot of innocent lives lost. At least the late hour of the night kept the majority of the actual population from being present. Mostly the witches would have to deal with reporters and police.

She opened her rounds into a group of charging Slayers. Two fell dead instantly, a couple others downed with mere wounds. She stalked up to them and popped a few bullets off to finish the job, her lips curling.

"Ais!" The voice sounded again from her comm. and the woman paused to check in with her eyes in the sky.

"Kind've busy here," she growled, reloading.

"Ais, there's more. A group just arrived from the Eastern side. I can't see their insignia but I'll be damned if that's not Durgrass clan."

The woman cursed fluently in more than one language. Dubas, who was sticking to her like a burr as per Lucians' orders, gave her a very concerned look.

"Who is Durgrass?" he demanded.

"Hunters. How many, Eagle?" Aislyn took a moment to look toward the East.

"At least twelve, plus Edward himself. I'd know that smarmy bastard anywhere." The comm. crackled again as the helicopter crew went quiet. They had switched frequencies. For an agonizing moment, Aislyn and Dubas stood there in the middle of the carnage listening to static. Then, the comm. switched back on. "Eagle One reports another group of Slayers to the south."

"Hellsing?" Aislyn asked urgently, looking toward that end of the lot.

"No. Parkers. There's some of Bailey's people mixed in with them, too. That's another twenty of mixed Slayers and Hunters. We're out numbered here."

Again, Aislyn said a few choice words. "How the hell are all these guys showing up so fast?"

Dubas suddenly opened fire as some humans wielding guns came into view. They dropped easily and Aislyn noted they were wearing police uniforms. The civilian law enforcement was apparently not under the control of the witches yet.

"No idea," Eagle Two responded. "Vlad's about ready to call for a retreat. Keep going but be ready just incase we need to pull out here. Eagle out!"

Aislyn looked at Dubas, her eyes wide. His expression wasn't much better.

"Well, I'm taking down as many of these bastards as I can before we run," Dubas announced.

"Yeah. Listen, we need to spread the word to the troops about the incoming Hunters. I know Lucian said to stay with me but we'll be faster apart." Aislyn jerked her head to one side to indicate he should go that way.

"Be back here in ten minutes, then," Dubas agreed. "If something happens to you, My Lord will have my balls." He ran off without waiting for a response.

* * *

Lucian's truck stopped nearest the North end of the parking lot. He managed to shove Aislyn out of his mind as lycans and vampire piled from the convoy. He could hear gunshots coming from somewhere south of his position but didn't stop to look. Instead he nailed himself to Lina's shadow and kept his eyes darting around for signs of incoming danger.

The woman made a bee-line for the main attraction. The Eagles in the air had been feeding information to Lina for almost the entirety of the drive. She knew the location of the 'thing' and the vampire that were currently fighting off a group of Hellsing soldiers. As they approached, some of the surrounding Slayers took notice and turned off of the creature to aim their guns at Lina and her entourage.

Lucian didn't hesitate and opened fire at the first person he saw turn toward the immortals. His crew took initiative from him and rushed into the fight. He bared sharpening teeth at the humans that didn't fall to the bullets. These ones had body armor. He adjusted his aim and shot one in the head then rushed past the corpse before it had even hit the snowy ground. He was not going to lose sight of Lina in this fray. Especially since he was pretty sure he knew who it was they were going after.

Lina skidded to a halt and Lucian had to break hard to avoid ramming into her as they came up on the strange creature tearing a particularly unlucky Slayer's arms off. It was tall, with a greenish-blueish skin that had a wet sheen to it. He was obviously a man and was standing over a woman who was bleeding profusely from a wound somewhere on her body.

The gathered Slayers paused in confusion at the arrival of Lina and Lucian but quickly shook themselves and moved in. Some shot off guns at the immortals; others came in for close quarters with what appeared to be wooden stakes and metal blades. Lucian's men moved quickly to intercept them but it was not an easy fight. He trusted his wolves, though, and went with Lina to inspect the woman on the ground.

As the Huntress bent to examine the vampress, the greenish creature made a lunge for her unprotected back. Lucian was just as quick, though, and interceded, using all the strength he possessed to fend the man off.

"Michael!" the lycan snarled at last, backhanding the other man with enough force to break any mortal's cheekbone. "Get a hold of yourself! We are friends!" For a very tense moment, the taller man stood trembling with unleashed rage, spittle foaming on his lips. Then, slowly, his bones started to crunch and shrink. His eyes faded from black, and his skin turned pinkish peach. In mere seconds, Michael stood before Lucian as the human he once was, dazed and exhausted.

"You..." Michael said dully in Hungarian, trying to put together what he was seeing. Last time he had glimpsed this particular werewolf's face, Lucian hadn't been all that alive looking. Then his eyes fell on the bleeding woman and he shoved passed the older wolf. "Selene!"

Lina had rolled the woman over and was poking carefully at a wound in her abdomen. She looked up as both men approached, lips pressed together so tightly they were white. "I can't be sure but I don't think her bowels are punctured."

"Can you do anything?" Lucian asked, eyes flicking to where his men and Lina's vampires were still struggling to fend of the skilled Hellsing operatives.

Lina shook her head. "I've no normal witch-blood in me, only Hunter. We're not healers. Damn it, I should have sent Aislyn to do this and taken Slayer duty." Lina started to open her mouth to say something but stopped as her comm. unit crackled to life. She listened intently for a moment, cursed, and looked back up at Lucian. "The Eagles report more Slayers have arrived from different organizations. Hunters as well. We're outnumbered and in danger of getting hemmed in. We need to extract these two and get the hell out of here before all hell breaks loose. No one has seen Helena yet but that doesn't mean that bitch isn't around here somewhere."

Selene moaned from where Lina was cradling her and her eyes fluttered open. She looked directly at Lucian, frowned, and sought out Michael. "Who...?" she murmured briefly before falling back into unconsciousness.

Michael moved forward again, distraught. Lucian placed a firm hand on the bare chest of the hybrid. "You can carry her but first we need more protection if we're getting out of here alive. We must get back to the trucks. The Eagles have comm. to Aislyn. Lina, can you tell them to have her meet us at the trucks?" He looked around for the nearest Lycans. "Remus, Romulus!" he barked. They came instantly. "One in front, one behind. Cover us."

Michael stooped and picked up his mate. Remus took point and the group made for the trucks at as dead a run as they could. Halfway there, they met up with Raze. He, too, had been making for the vehicles. Word was getting around for a full on evacuation. He glanced contritely at Lucian when the King saw him carrying a small, blond bundle.

"Is she at least alive?" the alpha snarled, not stopping their breakneck pace.

"Yes." Raze swallowed hard.

"Then you're not completely incompetent-"

"Get down!"

Lucian found himself forcefully shoved backwards by Remus, who rammed his alpha aside with his shoulder. There was a sickening thunk and the younger twin dropped. Lucian looked down in shock at the young werewolf bleeding into the snow at his feet. The large, silver bolt intended for Lucian was sticking out of his eye socket.

"Remi!" Romulus dived onto his brother as the alpha opened fire on a Hunter that was quickly attempting to reload. The human didn't stand a chance. Lucian turned his gaze down to the living brother. The younger man was babbling incoherently, shaking Remus as if that would help the situation.

Lucian swore viciously, shoved Romulus away, and hefted Remus' body over his shoulder with one hand. "Get to the trucks!" he ordered again, pushing forward. It may have been too late to help Remus but Lucian would be damned if he left behind the body of the man who had just saved his life.

Once at the trucks, Lucian dropped Remus' body on the ground and helped Raze settle Trina inside. She was pale and there was a good sized bruise spreading across her face, but otherwise she seemed intact.

Satisfied she would be fine, Lucian and Raze left the back of the truck to survey the parking lot grimly. The snow had picked up and was swirling down from the heavens as if urged on by some higher power. The new flakes settled themselves on the crisscrossing tracks of bloody slush, attempting to cover up the evidence.

More troops were arriving as Lucian watched Lina examine Remus. She was shaking her head sadly to a still blubbering Romulus, trying to explain that the silver had entered the younger twin's brain. Even if Aislyn had been there, Remus would have died before his body had even hit the ground. Many of the new comers were also carrying wounded or dead, looking frightened or upset.

"Get them into the trucks," Lucian ordered, trying not the dwell on the blank, lifeless expressions on some of the bodies. They were vampire and lycan, both.

"I don't like this," Lina murmured after securing Selene in the truck. Michael stood nearby, looking indecisive.

"Too many too quickly," Lucian agreed. "Do you think they planned this using Michael and Selene as bait?"

Lina glanced at the hybrid. "Did you know you were being followed?"

He shook his head then looked up toward the sky. "Selene was suspicious, though," he admitted in thickly accented English. "She told me she thought someone kept watching us."

"For how long?" Lina urged.

"A couple days. I should have listened." Michael looked as though he wanted to hit something and Lucian placed a restraining hand on the young man's shoulder.

"They must have known we'd come out in force if it looked like our own were being attacked. How did they know to call Hunters-" Lina started to muse aloud. Her thought was cut off as a blood curdling scream ripped across the make-shift battlefield. Lina's blood ran cold and her eyes met Lucian's in an instant of fear and panic. It was Aislyn's voice.

* * *

There seemed to be people everywhere. Aislyn prayed to whatever deity watching that the witches were doing their jobs. She did notice she saw a lot fewer civilian police men.

As Aislyn passed anyone on her side of the fight, she told them about the incoming enemy and the immanent retreat. The vampress paused to look for another cluster of comrades and gasped as something hard hit from behind, right below her shoulder. She looked numbly down at a long, thin point of wood protruding from the shirt below her collarbone.

Turning, she saw a Slayer not far away with a second wooden bolt in a crossbow: old fashioned but surprisingly effective. He loosed and Aislyn flung herself down into the snow. She could feel the bolt whiz through her hair where her skull had been mere seconds ago. Looking up from the ground, she saw the Slayer suddenly slump into a heap, his neck at an odd angle. Dubas stepped over the body as if it were noting more than log in the way.

"That's it. I'm not leaving you alone for a minute. The boss will be mad enough with you acting like a pin cushion," the lycan spat.

"Little help?" Aislyn replied dryly, motioning to the bolt. There was no head on it, just tapered wood. Dubas gripped it, putting a boot against her shoulder for leverage. He yanked hard and Aislyn bit her lip to keep herself from passing out. With his help, she managed to stand and take stock of the injury. It hurt like nothing else but she would deal. Wood-induced injuries took a long time to heal but she didn't have time to waste healing it now. It wasn't bleeding terribly. She would manage.

"Ais. Eagle Two here. Do you copy?"

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

"Get to the trucks at the North End. That foreign vamp is injured badly. They need you."

"On it." Aislyn caught Dubas' eye. He nodded once and they sprinted for the north end.

As they got a little nearer, Aislyn thought she could see something through the heavy snowfall. It looked like Lina kneeling over a body. There were numerous vampires and lycans around her, supporting a variety of injured comrades. Their legs obscured who was on the ground but Aislyn worried instantly and irrationally that it was Lucian. For a split second, while her attention was on that thought and not her footing, she felt her boot slip on some ice hidden under the new layer of white. Her run faltered for just two steps, and then her entire forward momentum stopped.

A pain worse than any other seared through her thigh and she fell hard with an agonized scream. Flipping onto her back, she managed to flail into a sitting position and stare, dumbfounded, at a sixteen inch harpoon blade sticking through her leg. It was wickedly serrated and the butt-end sticking out the back of her leg was attached to a thick chain. She gaped at it, mind racing wildly. She couldn't pull it out; she had to break the chain.

A dreadful clicking noise broke through the darkness and the chain started to pull back. With a jerk, the recurved edges of the blade sunk into the flesh on the front of her leg, hooking her effectively. As soon as the harpoon stuck, the chain picked up speed and Aislyn found herself being rapidly dragged in the opposite direction from the trucks. She screamed again as she felt the large, speared muscle groups rip further.

Then Dubas was there, pulling back hard on the chain, stopping the motion. Aislyn lay there panting as she heard the 'ping' of the chain snapping at the hands of the lycan. The loose end rattled off into the darkness, vanishing. The streetlamps were out in that end of the parking lot and Aislyn had the sinking feeling they had been broken purposefully. With the moon behind the clouds, the blanket of snow did little to illuminate the area.

"What the hell was that?" the man asked as he hauled her to her feet. Aislyn stood, swaying against his shoulder.

"Get me to the trucks," she said, ignoring his question. "Now."

Shaking his head, he started to half carry, half drag her along the streak of red she had left when pulled. There was an odd clicking sound from somewhere behind them. "Wait-" Aislyn started to say. It was followed by an eerie whistling and the woman pulled Dubas to the side with as much strength as she could.

A second harpoon sliced through Dubas' left arm and the lycan's mouth opened in surprise. No sound came out, though, as he fell in a heap beside Aislyn, limb severed from his body. The vampress watched, horrified, as the harpoon rattled back into the darkness, leaving a line of blood in its wake. She saw Dubas' arm not far away but turned her attention to the rest of him. He was breathing shallowly and she quickly fell to his side, hands moving to draw symbols in the air above him. She might not be able to reattach his arm but she could keep him from bleeding to death.

The seal flashed and settled over the stump of his arm. Satisfied, Aislyn tried to stand and found her leg lacked any significant strength. Adrenaline had kicked in to keep her from feeling the pain from both shoulder and leg but that didn't mean she could use muscles as damaged as her thigh. With a silent apology to Lucian, she drew her sword and used it to pull herself up. With her other hand, she snagged Dubas and threw him across her shoulders.

Using her sword as a crutch, she dragged herself and her burden forward, making for the lit area of the lot she knew the trucks sat in.

"You're very persistent, aren't you, Aislyn?"

The woman's blood drained from her face at the voice behind her. Slowly, she turned her head to look into the face of one of the most feared women in their world.

Helena van Hellsing emerged from the darkness, harpoon gun resting against her shoulder. She was smiling widely at the vampress, her red lips pulled away from her teeth in a look that could have been called crazy. Her hair, so blond it was almost the same color as the snow, was loose around her sharp face. Cold blue eyes looked at Aislyn like a predator looks at a sickly deer.

Aislyn dropped Dubas into a nearby snow bank and widened her stance the best she could. She felt the muscles in her leg scream but ignored them. She, perhaps, did have some strength left in her. Lifting the sword, she held it in front of her with one hand.

"Oh, are you going to try to fight back? How sweet!" Helana laughed without any humor and tossed her gun to one side. At her hip hung a blade. It was a sword passed down throughout the years. Aislyn knew well enough it had belonged to the original Abraham van Hellsing. Helena drew it then and fingered the edge. "Do you know how many vampires this holy weapon has killed? It will be my pleasure to add you to its tally, Daughter of Tepes."

Helena charged, swinging her blade around in a tight slice. Aislyn countered, feeling her leg buckle under her as the blades clashed together. She bared elongating teeth but held her ground. Physically, she was stronger than this woman. But Aislyn had lost a lot of blood and Helana wasn't injured in the slightest.

The worst part was not that Aislyn was exhausted and lightheaded, but that Helena was toying with her. Each pass of the enemy's sword that Aislyn could not block nipped into the vampire's skin just enough to hurt but not enough to do any excessive damage. Helena was purposefully pulling her cuts, smiling cattishly the entire while.

"You're a bit of disappointment, honestly," Helena taunted as she took a moment to wipe blood off the edge of her ancient sword. "I would have thought the infamous Tepes daughter would have given me more of a challenge."

"If you're so bored," Aislyn shot back, not letting her eyes off the woman, "why don't you kill me already and get it over with?"

"All in due time, Luv, all in due time." Helena brought her sword back up to continue her relentless assault.

Aislyn put herself completely on defense, dodging as well as one partially dead leg would allow, blocking any blows she could. She knew by this point that she wasn't going to make it back to the trucks in her condition. It just wasn't possible. Helena would tire of her little game and finally slay the vampress. Aislyn sought wildly through her memories for anything her father had ever taught her or any spell she had ever read about that would perhaps help her. The only things she knew of that would be remotely useful involved more power than she currently had on tap, and would probably kill her even if she was at full power.

Aislyn's leg buckled again and she fell to one knee, the motion actually aiding her in avoiding a lazy swing from Helena. She looked up at the blond Slayer, eyes narrowing as she watched the blood dripping off the sword and onto the snow. Blood. Lots and lots of blood...

Aislyn's eyes flicked to her thigh as it oozed out her life force. Blood was power and there was a hell of a lot of it laying about right then just waiting to be harnessed. It was dangerous magic to toy in but, Aislyn reflected with a bit of morbid acceptance, it wasn't look that positive for her right then anyway. Might as well go out with a bang.

The vampire pulled deep within her stores of energy and surged to her feet once more. Helena looked taken aback for a moment before recovering and smiling darkly.

"So our great Huntress does have a few tricks up her sleeve, does she?"

Aislyn smirked and reached down to grip the handle of the harpoon blade behind her thigh. "Oh, you have no idea." With a surge of strength, she jammed it all the way through the front of her leg until the blades had cleared her flesh. With a grunt, she pulled the entire thing - chain and all - out of her body and held it in her free hand. Thick rivulets of blood dribbled down her hand and arm, staining her once white shirt a dark crimson. Aislyn saw, with satisfaction, that Helena's eyebrow was twitching and her sword was not as steady as it once was. She looked rattled.

"Third Gate," the vampire continued, her voice somewhat faint as her quick use of energy was taking its toll. "Aragar." Gripping the handle of the harpoon loosely, she let the blade swing downward then sank rapidly to jam the tip into the pavement in front of her. The congealed blood globed off it upon impact leaving Rorschach splatters around it. Her voice took on a slightly different tone as she murmured words in a language not human. The harpoon was glowing slightly. The light spread in slow pulses along the length of Aislyn's arm, down her side, across her wounded thigh, wherever her blood touched. She opened eyes she hadn't realized were closed and locked them with Helena's. The Slayer took an involuntary step backwards. Aislyn's pupils were gone, replaced with only the red of her own blood. A long, thin trickle was dripped from the corners of the vampire's eyes, but still she murmured, ignoring the blood-tears. She would finish this now and take that van Hellsing Bitch with her.

* * *

Lucian turned as a second scream ripped the air, right on top of the first. He said nothing to his people but bolted in the direction it seemed to be coming from: a darkened portion to the eastern end of the lot. He heard more than saw others hot on his heels.

He could smell her blood before he saw her. It was overpowering and Lucian felt his stomach flip upside down at what that meant. Lina, running beside him, was talking urgently into her comm. link. Although Lucian could not make out the words, he was fairly certain it was Vlad on the other end. Lina looked up and caught Lucian's eye.

"She's not responding to the Eagles," she explained. "Vlad said he's picking up some pretty nasty energy further up in the darkness. He's coming down." Lucian merely nodded his understanding and kept going.

Dim shapes were starting to take form in the distance and the lycan put on a burst of inhuman speed. He knew instantly that the form crouched on the ground was Aislyn. There was a blond woman above her, a sword raised as if to stab the vampire in the back of the head.

Helena knew something bad was going to happen if she just sat there like a lump and let the vampire continue her little voodoo trick. While Aislyn was preoccupied with her spell, the woman raised her sword above her head, point downward.

As the blade rapidly plunged for Aislyn's unguarded body, Lucian leapt. It was a move of pure desperation, fueled by adrenaline and fear for the life of the vampire who had once risked all to save him. Normally, he would not have dreamed of making that distance in a single lunge but somehow his muscles gave that extra ounce of strength and the lycan-king snarled his triumph as he collided with Helena before the sword met flesh.

The sudden appearance of Lucian broke Aislyn's concentration and her wording faltered. There was a flash of red and her eyes cleared. Her failed spell swirled around her a few times before falling invisible into the snow. The energies dissipated and she was left staring dumbfounded at where Lucian and Helena were rolling in the nearby snow. She sat back on her bottom, one mangled and one whole leg jutting out before her. She looked vaguely up into the worried eyes of her mother then returned her eyes to Lucian. She didn't feel the jacket being thrown over her shoulders or make-shift tourniquet being tightened around her upper thigh. Whatever attention she had was completely on Helena and Lucian.

As their bodies finally came to a halt, Lucian found himself looking down into a rather pleased faced. He was mostly on top of her, one hand to her throat and the other gripping her left wrist. She was smiling that crazy smile and he had half a mind to tear it off of her face.

"You're not a vampire," she purred at him. "This will, at the very least, still hurt." Before Lucian had time to register her comment, he felt something slam into his chest right about the diaphragm. He stared down at her for a long moment then followed her gaze to the hilt protruding from his front. Lost in the moment of terror for Aislyn, he had forgotten Helena still held the sword. She was right about one thing: it still hurt even though the blessed metal would not have the same effect on him as on a vampire.

"You know, I wasn't sure if I should have believed that little brat when he insisted your species were in league, gallivanting around in public like love-sick puppies. I guess now I'll have to let him into the clan. His information has proven useful." She twisted the blade, slid her leg up, and kicked him backwards off of her and the sword. Lucian grunted as he landed hard on a portion of pavement not covered in snow. He was on his feet in an instant, though, ignoring the bleeding from both his front and his back. It wouldn't be fatal.

For a long, tense moment, Lucian glared across the distance at the Slayer. She stood with her sword pointed out toward him as if issuing a challenge. "Now," she said coldly. "Let's see what a werewolf can do against a full blooded van Hellsing!"

Lucian did not bother to reply. Sneering, he snagged the front of his shirt and ripped it backwards, tossing the bloody garment to the side with his jacket. Bones crunched as his eyes turned from green, to milky blue, to black. His growl turned guttural and soon it was nothing but the sound of a beast. He stood, chest heaving, in his full lycan form, dark eyes trained on Helena. Lucian moved a few feet to plant himself directly between the Slayer and Aislyn. He roared a wordless dare at her but van Hellsing did not move. No one did.

A man had descended from the sky whilst attentions were on the transformation of Lucian. He landed lightly behind Helena and, without so much as a word, snaked one arm around her waist. The other held the point of a rather nasty looking gun to the underside of her jaw, right where her carotid artery throbbed.

"Now, now, Helena," he cooed into her ear, sending chills up the spins of many onlookers. "I think that is quite enough for one night." Vlad cocked his gun conspicuously. "If you would please call off your men and those of your allies?"

"What is your intention?" she asked bravely, eyes locked on the form of the lycan not far away as it was looking at her hungrily.

"To call a sort of truce, for now. You take your dead. We will take ours. Our witches will manage the civilians and we will all vanish quietly into the night. What do you say to that?" Vlad shifted himself slightly, getting a better angle with his gun.

"Give me one good reason," van Hellsing spat contemptuously.

"Because," Vlad murmured, lowering his head slightly. "I'm about three centimeters away from biting you. You had better hurry… I'm not a patient man."

Helena shuddered as she felt something sharp graze the skin of her exposed neck, hard enough to feel but light enough not to break through. "I have your word on safe passage?" she asked immediately.

"So long as you leave our coven and packs alone. Otherwise, I think I may give you to His Majesty there. He seems rather inclined to tear you limb from limb. Considering what you have done to my daughter, I truly am tempted… So what do you say? Truce?"

"Deal." As Vlad let her go, Helena took a few steps to one side, distancing herself from any immortal she could. "But don't think this is over!" she snapped once free. "We'll be back!" She turned and fled into the darkness.

"Spread the word to gather our casualties and retreat to the manor," Vlad ordered. "We need to regroup. Lina, would you please let the Eagles know that we will be in need of any and all Healing witches when we get there?" The man moved toward where his daughter sat as Lina stood to do as asked. He crouched next to her and checked her pulse, peeked under her eyelids, and generally took stock of the damage.

"Aragar's Gate?" he asked darkly. "Foolish girl!"

"Aislyn?" Lucian landed on the woman's other side, opposite Vlad. He didn't seem to notice, or perhaps care, that he was completely in the buff. It was an unfortunate side effect of transforming. "Aislyn, what… are you…how…" he searched for words as he saw the blood soaked shredded pants and the gnarled flesh underneath. Her body was making some attempts to heal it but it wasn't a pretty sight. Finally, fed up with trying to find words, he reached forward and pulled her close to his chest. "Damn you, woman," he spoke in a raw undertone. "You had me worried there."

Aislyn sighed, content to lean against the comforting chest. Tired was an understatement of how she felt at that moment. She, too, didn't seem to take any notice of his nakedness. She was just glad it was him cradling her so tightly. There was a moment when she was attempting to finish the Gate, she was certain she would never see him again.

"Where's the foreigner?" she asked at last, voice dull. "I need to heal the foreigner."

Lucian looked down at her in disbelief then shook his head. "She's stable for now. You're in no state to do anything but rest," he informed her sternly. "I'm not letting you overtax yourself again."

"Oh." She blinked up at him and then started to look down the length of his chest, finally registering that it was skin she was leaning against and not cloth. "You're hurt," she said vaguely, placing a hand over the wound. She started to idly trace little symbols over the puncture but he stayed her hand with his own.

"I will live. _Rest_."

"M'kay," she murmured sleepily as fatigue finally started to take control. "Don't forget," she said between yawns, "to find Dubas' arm. Might be able to put it back… arm… find…" She passed out against Lucian's shoulder as he looked up at Raze.

"Find Dubas," he ordered. "And get me some pants."

Raze was already one step ahead as he passed his king a bundle of clothing salvaged off some poor, dead sap. Lucian wasn't that picky so long as it fit well enough to protect the necessary goods. Vlad took his daughter while the lycan dressed rapidly in the frigid weather. He donned his previously discarded trench over the top and took a second to look around the scene of Aislyn's fight. He stooped to yank the harpoon blade from the ground, eyebrows rising in appreciation.

"_This_ is what was in her leg?" he whispered, horrified at the thought. "She could have easily been killed…" He gazed around at all the blood, blanched, then tossed the blade to one side and followed after Vlad toward one of the trucks.

* * *

The scene in the manor was not a pretty one. Even after the sun was up, the entirety of the house was awake and taking survey of the seriousness of their encounter with the mixed group of Hunters and Slayers. Vlad had called a meeting shortly after the last of the injured and dead had been brought inside. He excused Lucian, Aislyn, and any of the other injured officers from the proceedings, asking only that Lina and Michael attend. Everyone was very interested in the fruits of their labor. At first Michael had refused to leave Selene's side but Lucian urged him to go. The witches were making short work of the nasty wound in the Viral's belly.

All the furniture in the large, central room of the manor had been cleared away and large tables were spread out across the space in orderly rows. Bodies covered every inch, some dead, some moaning in pain. Wane and irritable women and men were passing among the bodies, searching out the ones that needed the most attention and tagging those that were beyond help. Lucian paled to see how many there were with tags on.

Of his immediate pack, only Trina, Dubas, and himself were in any way hurt. Dubas' loss of an arm was the most devastating; the witches were at a loss about how to successfully reattach it but were giving it their best shot. They hoped he would at least gain partial use of his hand in time. Lucian's own abdominal wound was nearly healed, and Trina just had one hell of a concussion. The only death was Remus, who was laid out on the far end of the room. Romulus had long since stopped weeping but sat in desolate silence, barely comforted by the blond vampresses he and his brother had been trying to impress just one night before.

Other packs had not fared as well. The London wolves were not used to war as Lucian's men were. It was one thing for the London packs to fight off weaponless, mindless Dolls. It was another to go against trained professionals with weapons designed specifically to kill them. As Lucian passed among his people, he stared blankly down at the dead, making mental notes of who was no longer with them. His step faltered when he passed Daniel. The alpha's widow was crying on the man's chest, face soaked in blood from a head wound she was healing from. He stopped long enough to place a hand on the woman's shaking shoulder, trying to convey his sympathy for her loss. If she noticed, she didn't acknowledge it, and Lucian moved on down the line.

The vampires had lost more than he had. It had surprised Lucian at first, but then one of the wounded vampires told him that the van Hellsings were just that good. The Hunters that had shown up were skilled, but nothing compared to the killing efficiency of Helena's crew. They were truly the Gates of the Slayer world. Lucian was grateful that the only Gates' around were on his side or things would not have turned out nearly as well.

As it was, there were twelve dead lycans, twenty more wounded in varying degrees. Eighteen vampires died and their wounded counted to at least twenty five, including Selene. Thirty dead. Forty-five hurt. Lucian shuddered.

In the corner opposite the stairs, Aislyn sat on a table edge. A very sever woman, gray hair pulled into a bun that Lucian was certain caused the pinched look on her face, was poking around at the vampire's shoulder. They were talking quietly and Lucian wanted to join them. His sense of responsibility held him back, though. His people needed him here among them, not with the vampires, right at that moment. Aislyn was awake and walking, if slowly and painfully. That would have to be enough for Lucian until this mess was sorted out. Funeral pyres needed to be built, the dead burned in accordance to tradition, and packs contacted to be told of their loss.

Lucian left Raze with the responsibility of organizing building crews and pyres were being constructed outside as the witches worked. The alpha continued to move among his dead and wounded, making mental notes of which packs he needed to call. He walked past a man he recognized from one of the other packs. The lycan had been deemed a mortal case. He was nearly dead and nothing short of a miracle was going to bring him back from the brink. Lucian thought it was terribly unfair: Aislyn had dragged him back from Hell's doorstep beyond anyone's expectations. Why did this wolf deserve less?

As Lucian moved past, the other lycan's hand shot out and grabbed his king's wrist. Lucian turned and knelt next to the table, leaning close to hear what his subject had to say.

"I took down four of those bastards," the man was whispering proudly, his eyes far away as if remembering.

"Thank you," Lucian replied earnestly. "Your valor will not be forgotten."

"Proud... always proud... serve... you..." The lycan coughed a few times, blood specked with silver foaming at his mouth. Lucian recognized the silver nitrate and admired the man's grit to have lived this long with in it his system.

"Is there any message I can pass along for you?" Lucian offered, gripping the man's hands tightly.

The lycan shook his head slightly. "No family... so proud... four..." He smiled, coughed, and slumped back down. Lucian cursed. Thirteen dead.

The burning would be held once the sun went down so all the vampires could attend. With a dark sigh, Lucian walked out of the room, away from the smell of decay and death, into the open air of the front yard. He looked up at the gray, overcast sky that threatened more snow and sighed deeply. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he started the laborious task of calling the absent alphas to alert of them of the status of their numbers. The alphas of the packs present would deal with their own people.

* * *

Aislyn watched the flames lick at the midnight sky, lips thin. She should have been on that pyre, too, but by some miracle she stood next to her mother and father, paying homage to those that did not make it back in one piece. Although her eyes were dry, she did not feel as emotionless as she looked. She wasn't one to cry in public, though, and held it in. Lina had no such compunctions as she honked her nose into a handkerchief Vlad had handed her shortly after the first vampire was placed on the platform.

The pyre had been built in an open section of the complex reserved for such things. It was far enough away from any actual structure to not pose a fire hazard. The empty lot was usually an expanse of grass and weeds. Now it was just a blank, snow covered stretch marred by the blackened, charred wood mixed with the cremated bodies of their casualties.

Due to possible time constraints, they did the vampires first. If the sun came up while they were still out there, there would be a lot more bodies needing disposing of. The platform was large enough to accommodate multiple bodies at once and the process went quickly enough. Aislyn stood resolutely as she watched each comrade turn to ash, sifting to the bottom of the pile. A company of both vampires and werewolves kept the pyre fueled as the night stretched on.

On Aislyn's right Lucian stood with his eyes flat and cold. She wanted terribly to reach out to him but kept a respectable distance. He didn't look like he wanted to be bothered. She had no idea he would have welcomed her touch and was simply giving her the same space she was giving him.

Somewhere nearby a voice was rising in a very mournful song. Aislyn knew it as an old Celtic farewell. The woman singing was the iron-haired witch that had been inspecting Aislyn's ounds earlier that day: Darlene, the matron of the witching world. More voices joined hers as the song carried over the gathered covens and packs. Some of the wolves – those with Celtic roots – joined in when they recognized the song. Soon the eerie tune surrounded the pyre. By the time the last body was placed upon the blaze even Aislyn was quietly singing under her breath.

The sky in the distance started lightening and the vampires slowly wandered away for their respective homes. Lina put a hand on Aislyn's shoulder, telling her she was going to go to bed with Vlad. The younger vampress nodded, kissed her mother's cheek, then turned back to the fire. She didn't intend to leave until the last embers died. Apparently Lucian had much the same idea as he made no move to follow the werewolves when they asked permission to retire. No one had slept in many hours and they needed rest.

Dawn found Aislyn and Lucian standing alone in the field, watching the pyre collapse as supports burned through, spending a burst of sparks up into the air to mix with the cloud of smoke. Aislyn nearly jumped when she felt a light touch at her shoulder. They hadn't moved in so long she had almost forgotten he was there.

He still said nothing but there was a pain in his eyes now that he hadn't dared show before when his packs were present. She couldn't hold herself back any longer and took the step or two that closed their distance. Wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. She felt his arms tighten across her back and heard him breath in deeply, feeling his chest expand and deflate as he sighed into her hair.

She wasn't aware how long they stood there like that but when they finally let go, the embers were all but dead and the sun was creeping higher into the winter sky, trying hard to shine down on the cold Earth.

"We should go in and sleep," Lucian suggested, his voice sounding out of place in the still morning. Aislyn nodded and turned to go back toward the manor. As they walked, she felt him slip his hand into hers and she gratefully clutched it, taking comfort from his closeness. She didn't outwardly acknowledge the show of affection but just accepted it as it was without questioning motives. If ever there was a day they needed that close friendship, today was it.

They stopped a few times on the way to allow Aislyn to rest. The damage to her leg was almost completely healed but it was still in danger of tearing if she did too much to quickly right then. Although she would have kept going if Lucian wanted to, she was grateful he noticed her limitations and enforced her need to rest.

When they arrived at the manor, the place looked deserted. Aislyn couldn't be positive, but it seemed like most everyone was asleep. They passed through the entry room and the commons then went straight up the stairs. They paused on the landing, fingers still intertwined. Aislyn glanced over her shoulder in the direction of her room before looking at Lucian. At that moment, she really didn't want to be alone. He must have seen that in her eyes and tugged her gently toward his side of the hallway. She didn't resist.

They paused only long enough to remove coats and boots before snuggling down into Lucian's bed. He pulled the comforter up over them before pulling her close and holding her tightly. She settled herself into the crook of his arm as if she belonged here, buried her face in his shoulder, and was soon fast asleep.

* * *

Lucian awoke and inhaled deeply. He could smell apples and wondered at it. Then the solid something in his arms moved and murmured and the memory of the morning flooded back into his mind. He blinked hazily at the sleeping face of Aislyn and smiled involuntarily. There was a rightness about this he couldn't put a name to. She muttered incoherently again and was trying to snuggle closer to the warmth his body supplied. Who was he to deny her? Content, he pulled her closer and pressed lips to her forehead.

He didn't know what time it was but what would it hurt to sleep a little longer? They were both recovering from injuries and probably needed the extra rest, anyway. Accepting that rationale, Lucian closed his eyes and allowed himself to be lulled into a comfortable doze.

When he woke again, a pair of sleepy red eyes were gazing at his face. Aislyn was propped up on her elbow next to him, hand flat on his chest. He blinked up at her. "Good… morning?" He ended the greeting as a question then looked around for his alarm clock. "Evening?" he continued, still a little muddled with sleep.

"Afternoon," Aislyn supplied with a chuckle. She sat up fully as he did and watched as he rubbed sleep from his eyes and brushed unruly hair from his face. They were silent for a long moment while he gathered his thoughts and bit back yawns.

"Thank you," Aislyn murmured after a bit, running a hand along his upper arm. He nodded and sent her a small smile.

"I didn't really want to be alone, either," he admitted. "I should be thanking you."

"Then let's consider ourselves well thanked." She stopped her hand, squeezed his arm, then threw back the covers and stood experimentally. Her leg felt strong if still a bit sore. "Are you as hungry as I am?"

"Starving," Lucian admitted, copying her motion on his side of the bed. He took stock of himself, pulling his shirt up to look at where the wound had been. There was a slight pinkish discoloration but the scar would soon fade. He ran a hand over it before dropping his shirt and turning to Aislyn. She was heading for his bedroom door and he followed.

If anyone noticed them exiting the same room, no one was inclined to mention it. It was common knowledge that the two often spent long periods of time together in private. What they did was their own business, although the nosier busybodies – i.e. Lina, Trina, and Raze – assumed, or perhaps hoped, it was something marginally more romantic than snuggling. To the trained sense of a lycan, though, it was obvious they were still platonically involved and, as the two descended the stairs into the busy commons, Raze and Trina made a slight negative motion to Lina, who sighed wistfully and stood to inspect her daughter's physical health.

Lucian moved past where Aislyn had stopped and entered the kitchens. He went first to the fridge that housed the manor's supply of blood and took out a bag for Aislyn. He found a mug, poured it in, and set it aside. That done, he started searching for the means to make some coffee. Instead he found numerous boxes of tea. He could find the coffee pot but the whereabouts of the tub of ground beans was unknown to him.

Coffee wasn't really his favorite but he knew Aislyn was fond of the stuff. Her mother was American. She had grown up with coffee being a way of life. With a frustrated sigh, he settled on boiling some water for tea. She could hardly fault him for trying, anyway.

After a few minutes of rummaging around through the wide selection of prepackaged and loose leafs, he put together something he thought she might like, let it steep in a small metal ball designed just for that purpose, and picked up the mug of blood. He left the kitchen and passed it to her without a word. She wrinkled her nose at him but didn't argue as he disappeared back into the kitchen to find something mostly raw for himself. After that much activity, he needed meat.

He saw something red and meaty thawed out on the bottom self of one of the refrigerators the lycans had claimed. His stomach rumbled and, as he bent to examine it further, the sudden watering of his mouth made up his mind for him. It was as good a breakfast as a werewolf could ask for. He quickly cut it into bite sized pieces, tossed the chunks in a bowl, and went back into the living room carrying the meat in one hand and the tea in the other. Aislyn had joined her mother, Trina, and Raze at a small coffee table surrounded by comfortable couches. He made for them.

He took a seat next to the younger vampire. Aislyn looked eagerly at the tea when he offered it to her. She had since finished her blood and was craving something to wash it down. She sighed contentedly as she sipped at the hot liquid, thanking Lucian genuinely for thinking of it. He smiled, nodded, and proceeded to pop a few pieces of the mystery meat into his mouth. He had thought it was beef – it had _smelled_ like beef - but it didn't taste quite right.

"Lina?" he asked after chewing thoughtfully. "What am I eating?"

The woman looked down into the bowel. "Bison."

Lucian looked pleasantly surprised. "It's good."

"Six hundred years and you've never had bison?" Aislyn asked.

"Not many wild bison roaming the streets of Budapest," the werewolf replied dryly.

"There are water buffalo there, domesticated," Lina added.

"Yes, but this tastes different than that." Lucian eyed another chunk before popping it into his mouth.

"That's because it's American Bison, not buffalo," Aislyn said. "They're different animals."

"Oh, can I try?" Trina chimed in, having watched the conversation with interest. Lucian offered the bowl to both her and Raze, who was hovering nearby. After few moments of silent chewing, the other two lycans agreed that it was rather better than the beef they'd had in the past.

"There's more on the bottom shelf of the meat fridge," Lucian informed them.

Trina made to stand from her seat but Raze motioned her down. "I'll get us some." He vanished into the kitchen.

While the large man was gone, Lucian finished his meat and set his bowl next to Aislyn's empty mug. He looked to Lina, voicing a question that had been on his mind since waking up. "What is our plan, now?"

"What do you mean?" Lina asked back. She seemed absorbed in combing snarls out of Aislyn's hair with her fingers.

"It seems as though we have more than the Dolls on our hands now," he continued. "Do we increase patrols or lay low?"

"We continue on as always," Lina said. "We have always had some trouble with the local Slayers. Helena took as much of a blow as we did, it not a worse one. We will concentrate on the Dolls as soon as our strength has returned."

"I suppose rest is in order for the time being, then." The lycan sighed and sat back into the cushion of the couch.

"I would suggest getting some more sleep," Lina agreed. "If only because you will need it for tonight."

Lucian raised his brows. "Tonight?" He glanced at Aislyn. She didn't seem surprised at what her mother was saying and he wondered briefly what she knew that he didn't. At least he didn't have to wait long before finding out.

"Last night we said goodbye to their bodies. Tonight we will farewell their spritis."

Her explanation wasn't quite what he was expecting and he still did not know what she meant. He turned his eyes to Aislyn instead, asking her silently to elaborate what her mother was getting at.

"Mother is planning a Wake tonight," the younger said, obliging Lucian's questioning look. "You will need your energy."

"I doubt I will need to take another nap just for a Wake." Lucian shrugged. "I'm going to take a walk for a bit." The lycan stood from his seat and stretched. He shook his head at Aislyn when she made to stand as well. "You need to stay off that leg," he admonished. She opened her mouth to argue but he held up his hand to shush her. "I won't be too long, I promise."

He moved off to gather his boots and jacket from upstairs. Aislyn slumped down onto the couch next to her mother, looking rather miffed. She looked at Lina. The older woman shrugged, her mysterious little smile in its usual place upon her lips. Aislyn rolled her eyes and stood anyway.

"Fine. I'll be up in the upstairs library if anyone needs me." She flounced upstairs, temper starting to pick away at the back of her mind. She knew she shouldn't be upset with him for needing a bit of fresh air but she did not like having her company refused by a man in whose arms she had awoken less than an hour ago.

* * *

Lucian's reasoning for needing a moment alone had a lot to do with waking up with her cradled ever so intimately in his arms. The last forty-eight hours had been such a rollercoaster of emotions and energy he needed a moment to absorb and reflect on his next course of action.

The snow crunched underfoot as he made his way through the winding roads of the neighborhood of vampires. He didn't have a particular destination in mind but let himself wander slowly along the deserted, snow covered lanes. Halfway between the manor and the front gate, small soft flakes started falling from the heavily laden clouds above. He paused to watch it flutter downward. It seemed so peaceful out. It was hard to believe not that long ago they had been surrounded by people trying to kill them.

Lucian sighed softly and turned his thoughts inward as he continued on his way. Aislyn was becoming an even bigger problem. Perhaps the word "problem" was too strong, he reflected. "Issue" was probably a better choice. He was not overly sure where they stood now. A few days ago he would have labeled their relationship close but friendly. In the past two days he had kissed her, transformed to protect her, and fallen asleep with her in his arms. And throughout all that, she had not objected to any of it. She had kissed him back and gone willingly to his bed, even if only to sleep. She hadn't wanted to be alone any more than he had, and she had chosen him to spend that time with. Yet something still held him back from starting a frank and open discussion about their feelings.

It was all probably just a side effect of the adrenaline from the fight, anyway. And they were only following tradition with the kiss. Never mind that neither had been in any way inclined to make it a chaste little peck on the cheek.

Lucian kicked a clump of snow to one side as he reached the gate. He stared hard at the iron bars that blocked the outside world from the nighttime world of the vampires. He turned there and headed back along the tracks he had left moments ago. He had promised her he would not be long and his walk had already taken him some twenty minutes. Lucian hated that look of rejection he had seen flitter across her eyes when he said he was going alone. Did she realize what she did to him that made him need this thought-processing? Probably not. After all, he hadn't told her how he actually felt.

The commons was much as he had left it when he arrived. Lina was gone, though, to wherever it was she usually vanished to during the day. Raze and Trina were sharing a dish of the bison, talking in low tones to one another. He paused at their table long enough to ask if they knew where Aislyn had gone.

"Lina said she went to the library. Your guess is as good as mine about _which_ library. This place has more books than I've ever seen!" Trina shrugged. "Or you could try her room. The usual places. She's supposed to be resting anyway."

"Thank you." Lucian snatched up a small chunk of their snack before nodding acknowledgement to Raze and heading up the stairs. He paused outside her door and knocked but no one answered.

He tried the library across the hall next and was rewarded by a grumpy "What do you want?" coming from somewhere on the other side of an overstuffed armchair that's back was turned toward the door.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," he started somewhat weakly. Now what was she mad about? He just did not understand women.

"I'm fine," came Aislyn's terse reply. He could hear the distinct papery crinkle of a turning page.

"Am I interrupting anything?" he tried again, coming further into the room and closing the door behind him.

"A bit."

Lucian hesitated again as more pages flipped from beyond the back of the chair. He knew he should probably just go and find something else to do. Just then, though, he rather wanted to be in her company. Quietly, he moved across the room to explore the shelves. He pulled down a book that looked interesting and settled himself in a chair. He could see Aislyn's profile from his seat and knew she could very well see him out of her periphery. Opening the tome, Lucian prepared himself to read and wait out her moodiness.

He had managed a few chapters before he realized he hadn't heard her turn a page in a while. He glanced up from his book to see her watching him through half-closed eyelids. "Yes?" he murmured.

"Did you have good walk?" she asked a length, perhaps a bit stiffly.

"It was not as enlightening as I had hoped." Lucian turned his eyes back to his book and picked up where he had left off. He had the distinct tingling sensation that comes when being watched and found himself re-reading the same sentence three times before lifting his eyes again. Sure enough, she was still looking over at him. "Am I bothering you?"

Aislyn shook her head and bowed it back to her book. A few more awkwardly silent minutes passed before Lucian gave up on his own novel and set it aside on an end table. "I think we need to talk," he finally admitted.

The young woman set her own book down and half turned in her chair to look at him. "About what?"

"We have had a very rough few days. Events have come to pass that I cannot simply ignore."

Aislyn nodded slowly in agreement but said nothing, waiting for him to continue with whatever was bothering him. It seemed to be taking him an inordinate amount of time to gather his thoughts, though, and the woman finally spoke into the stillness of the library.

"We're still friends, if that's what is bothering you. Nothing that will happen in this war will change that." She cocked her head to one side, regarding him with some curiosity. She had a pretty good feeling that he was wanting to talk about what had happened before the fighting, at the party. She wasn't entirely in the mood to discuss that, though, and tried her best to steer the conversation away from that direction. She would rather they just brush that to one side and not have to deal with it yet. The whole situation was confusing. Aislyn had half a mind to forget the whole thing and go back to how it was before Christmas. She just hoped Lucian was thinking along the same lines.

"I just didn't want us to get any wrong ideas," he replied slowly. "Or to blow things out of proportion."

"Understandable." Aislyn rested her chin on her hand, elbow propped up on the arm of her chair. "Shall we start over from today? I'm sorry for my moodiness. This is the worst blow we've taken in a long while."

"Forgiven. I'm sorry for anything I may have said or done, as well." Lucian sighed inwardly. It wasn't exactly what he had hoped for but at least they were back on square one. Their actions had not caused an uncomfortable rift to form and she was willing to restart their friendly association.

"Likewise forgiven," Aislyn murmured. She quickly changed the subject before they had a chance to dwell back on the intimacy they were trying so hard to ignore. "Mother is out preparing for the Wake. Is there anything in particular you want for it?"

Lucian found himself caught slightly off-guard at the question. "This is another tradition of your family that I have never partaken in," he admitted. "We usually burned our dead and called it done."

"Mother's family is Irish, way back." Aislyn shrugged. "She's brought a lot of things into this coven in the last forty years that apparently they never did before."

"How long will it last?"

Again, Aislyn shrugged. "Depends when the kegs run out."

The werewolf chuckled but stopped when he saw Aislyn was serious. "Kegs?"

"Among other things." Aislyn stood and stretched herself, bending and twisting in a way Lucian rather enjoyed watching. She stood on her bad leg, bouncing for a moment to test it and grimaced. "Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be able to use this damn thing."

"You should stay off it," he advised, standing as well. "I don't want you reinjuring yourself. And don't give me that look. I know what sort of stubborn fool you are." She made her wrinkly-nose face at him and he smirked back. "If you're interested in stretching it, though, I'd love your company for another brief stroll. The snow is light at the moment and pleasant enough to walk through."

She assented readily and left to find a jacket, more to keep the snow off than to keep her warm. They met in the entry room and started on their way without any preamble. It was a thankfully comfortable silence that stretched between them as they meandered through the streets of the complex.

The flakes started falling in fat clusters, sticking together as they swirled downward. Aislyn called a halt to the walk while she tried to catch some on her tongue. Lucian laughed to himself as she scurried around in the ankle-deep snow, loose black hair covered in dots of white. He refused to join her game when she made attempts to cajole him into it and received a snowball to the chest as his reward.

"None of that now. A snowball battle is too much for your leg," he admonished when she tried to form another handful of snow into a ball. She tossed it at him but he easily shifted out of the way. "I'm not playing," he repeated and started walking again.

"Fine." Aislyn tromped passed him, shoving her hands into her pockets. She soon got over it, though, and kicked snow up in front of her as they went.

"You're certainly in a chipper mood," Lucian commented when they stopped again. He noticed she was starting to limp a little, although she was trying her best to hide it.

"I thought I was going to die back in that cold parking lot. I guess I'm just happy to be alive." She turned toward him. Her smile was there but with an overlay of sadness.

"I know the feeling." Lucian took a couple steps closer to her but stopped short of actually touching. "When that coward Kraven shot me, I was certain I was dead. Have I thanked you lately for my life?"

Aislyn chuckled a little and shook her head. "Once was enough. If you hadn't shown up when you did, that Gate would have eaten me alive. I should be thanking you for that."

Lucian frowned at her words. "That reminds me. I wanted to ask you about the spell you were trying to cast but there hasn't really been an opportune moment in which to do that."

Aislyn's smile vanished and she suddenly became exceedingly interested in something in the distance. Lucian wasn't fooled by her act, though, and said her name softly, calling her attention back to him. "You're father said you were a damned fool for trying it. What was it you were doing?"

She didn't speak at first and he thought that perhaps she would refuse to answer him. Then, with a very tired sigh, she looked down at the snow at her feet and opened her mouth. "It's called Aragar's Gate, after the warlock that created it eons ago. It is considered a Third Gate, or one that can grant access to the third layer of Hell." She looked again into the distance and Lucian felt a shiver run up his spine that had nothing to do with the snow.

"What the hell were you trying to do?" he finally forced out, voice harsher than he had expected it to be.

"Cerberus and his hell-hound children dwell there." Aislyn took a shaky breath. "I thought that if I could call one of them forth, I could take that bitch down with me."

Lucian paled further but she wasn't finished. She turned to look at him, eyes almost begging him to understand. "She was going to kill me. It was all I could think of that I had enough power to do."

"If you had enough power to open a gate to Hell, how could you not find another way?" Lucian tried his best not to openly glare at her for her stupidity, wanting to hear her out first.

"I didn't actually have the power," she amended. "I had to use the blood. That sort of magic can only be used for certain types of spells. Aragar's Gate is one of them."

Lucian shook his head and looked skyward. "Your father was right to call you foolish."

"If I was going to die anyway, I wanted to at least eliminate one of our most powerful enemies in the process. Given the same circumstances, would you have done any different?" Her tone had changed from defensive to aggressive rapidly. She looked him full in the face, daring him to say he would have just let himself be killed.

"I can't say what I would have done. I don't have your hocus-pocus." He exhaled hard and met her gaze solidly. "But I can say that I would have tried to take her out if it seemed certain that I was going to die anyway," he added more gently. "I'm not going to lecture you on your own abilities and I'm not going to stand here and reprimand you for doing what you did. Please just promise me you won't do that again?" He reached out and placed both hands on her shoulders, turning her fully to face him.

"I'll do it again if it is the only choice, but I won't do it without a lot of forethought."

Lucian nodded slowly. It was good enough. He couldn't ask her not to use what power she was born with, especially if there was a chance it would save her life. He squeezed her shoulders then let go. "It's getting later. We should be getting back so you can indulge in a nice, long sit."

Aislyn snorted in the back of her throat. "Just what I wanted to do."

He ignored he sarcastic tone and pulled her arm through his. "Come on. I'll play you in chess. That should get you off your feet for at least five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Aislyn tightened her arm around his and let herself be led toward the manor.

"That should be how long it takes for me to beat you."

Aislyn quickly smacked the trunk of a tree as they walked under it, dumping a pile of snow on Lucian's head. "Smarmy prat," she teased as he brushed the snow off. "We will just see who can beat whom in five minutes!"

* * *

AN: Okay, I hope you enjoyed this installment of my tale. No one is too disappointed in the outcome of the fighting? Next chapter should be more fun. Now I must go as my cat is attempting to eat a bag of Halls cough drops... sigh...


	9. Vampires and Lycans and Alcohol, Oh My!

**AN: **This chapter was a bitch: a total, relentless, unyielding bitch. It has caused me to swear, groan, growl, and make other irritated noises. It has frustrated me beyond measure and now I finally present it to you in all its 37 page glory. I am filled with trepidation and anxiety over it, though. It has left me feeling jittery and worried. It is unlike anything I have written in a long time… it contains adult themes! Ack! I rarely… and I mean it's been over six years, perhaps more… write the things that have now put this story into the M rating marker. I'm usually a more 'implied scene' type of writer. I work with cliffhangers and often depend on the imagination of my reader to fill in the juicy little details. Not this time… oh dear god, I'm rusty at it, too.

So please, gentle reader, be kind to me. Understand that my fingers wanted me to elaborate and that my brain is out of practice doing such things.

Also, I hate Selene. Well, okay that's unfair. I don't hate Selene, I actually think she's pretty damn sexy and I'm even straight. What I hate is _writing_ Selene. I don't usually do characters so cold and devoid of normal human emotions. She has no snark and I thrive on the sarcastic. She's the other reason I'm a bit nervous about this installment. I can't write witty retorts and glib comments with her; it just doesn't fit the persona her character gave off in the movies. So I hope I've done at least a passing job of writing her.

Onward!

**Chapter Nine: Vampires and Lycans and Alcohol, Oh My!**

Lucian soon found out - much to his delight and amusement - that Aislyn could hold her own in a game of chess. Her strategy included the use of some surprisingly aggressive pawns and an almost suicidal rook. Even though he won in the end, she at least put up an amazingly fun fight.

They were sitting in one of the upstairs studies, enjoying the last of the late afternoon sunshine through the window the chess board sat under. Aislyn had just reset the board but they had yet to make a move to start the next match.

"When will the Wake actually start?" Lucian asked as they turned back to the game. He motioned for her to go first and wasn't surprised to see her move a pawn forward two squares.

"Mother is out getting the supplies right now. When the sun goes down and the coven wakes up then we will start." She frowned as he took her pawn but brought another out with vigor. He chuckled and took another move.

"What all happens at your Wakes, besides tapping an army's worth of kegs?"

Aislyn took a moment to think about that, toying with one of her knights. "Apart from a lot of drinking, there's usually someone playing some kind of instrument, people often sing and dance. Card games. Mostly we hang out and remember the dead in happier times," she said honestly, setting the horse-shaped piece down on the board. "It's like a celebration of the life they had. We had our time to be sad about it but now its time to get over it and throw a party in their memories, or something like that."

Lucian frowned. "Seems a bit disrespectful," he said slowly.

"Not in the slightest," she defended. "What would you rather have? A bunch of solemn hymns and a pile of snotty tissue, or a grand farewell and a keg stand?"

"Neither," Lucian replied. He studied the board for a minute before moving a pawn into a sacrificial position. "I'd rather just be burned and have that be that."

"Well, in that case I'm just going to have to remind you that my mother is Irish way back. Beer happens." She took the pawn with one of her own, tossing it into the small wooden box on the side of the table.

"I don't suppose I can politely decline drinking?"

Aislyn laughed lightly in the back of her throat. "You can try. There is no law stating you have to drink." She sat quietly for a moment while they took a few more moves. "You know, I think the Wake is more for the sake of those mourning, anyway. It gives us a chance to let loose and release all those pent up emotions." Aislyn shrugged. "I think once you see it, you'll understand. You've never experienced a Wake like Lina's before."

Lucian made a slight noise in the back of his throat that was neither a confirmation nor a disagreement. Aislyn decided to drop the subject. If he didn't enjoy himself tonight he could always go to bed early.

* * *

The noise level in the living room had increased as each group of guests arrived. Not surprisingly, the only werewolves present were Lucian's pack, as they lived there. The other packs were not overly interested in the proceedings. They had their own farewells planned.

Aislyn had managed to convince Lucian to at least go to the Wake for a few hours to observe and show his support. He grudgingly admitted that she was right that it wasn't as bad as it sounded once things got underway. Mostly everyone was just sitting or standing in small groups, laughing about things they remembered regarding the dead.

To officially open the celebration, Vlad held a rather somber toast in honor of the departed. Lucian was secretly pleased that the vampire added mention of the sacrifice Remus had made, bringing the lycans into the celebration with the memory of their comrade.

Shortly after things got underway, Lucian found Aislyn sitting next to him on one of the couches. She pressed a glass into his hands. He raised his eyebrows at the amber liquid and turned his gaze to the vampress. He was pretty sure he had mentioned to her his intention to refuse the drinks.

"At least have one," she murmured. "Mother might think you're not being polite."

Lucian sighed but didn't refuse after her comment. She was right, after all. Lina had gone through some effort to set this up in so little time. He should at least have one drink. It was just beer and not nearly enough for Lucian to even feel the slightest bit buzzed. Halfway through, he noticed that whatever it was Aislyn was drinking was not the same as his.

"What is that? It smells sweet." Lucian looked into her tall glass with some curiosity.

"Pear cider," she supplied then offered the glass. "I can't stomach beer until I'm at least mostly tossed."

Lucian accepted the glass from her and took an experimental sip. It was surprisingly good. "Is there more of this?"

"Lots. I'll get you one." Aislyn stood and vanished off into the far side of the room where a table was set with food and drink. That was where the kegs were settled, too. Lucian quickly finished his beer in anticipation of the cider. He wasn't disappointed as she returned quickly, having not only gotten him a glass but refilled her own. She settled herself beside him once more and handed over the new glass. They clinked them together before falling into companionable silence.

As the night started to crawl by, various vampires and a few of Lucian's pack passed by to speak with them. Mostly, though, the two were left in relative privacy. They talked some, in low tones, and nursed their drinks. Lucian was enjoying the return of their comfortable silences and easy friendship. Whatever oddness that had been between them before Christmas seemed to have vanished. Perhaps their mutual decision to ignore the events of the past few days had really given their friendship the jumpstart it needed.

Lucian glanced up from his drink as Lina sidled up to their couch from behind. Leaning over the back between the two of them, she smiled at one and then the other. Although he could smell alcohol on her, she didn't look like she had been affected yet by her party.

"Just checking on you," she explained with a mischievous little smile. "I'll leave you two alone. You seem to be doing fine." She was looking pointedly at the coffee table that was starting to gain quite a collection of empty glasses of various shapes and sizes.

"Actually, while you're here," Lucian began, waylaying the vampress, "have you seen Michael? I think I've seen everyone here but him and Selene." The lycan had wanted to talk to them but was giving the two their space to adjust to their new surroundings. He thought that tonight would be a good opportunity to spend some time with the hybrid he created.

Lina nodded slightly in understanding. "I spoke with Michael earlier when Selene finally woke up. They're fine but they're going to sit this out in their chambers. She needs rest and he's refusing to leave her side for anything short of the apocalypse."

"Ah." Lucian took a sip of his drink, mulling that over for a minute. "I thought I had detected that. He's not fully lycan so I wasn't really sure."

Aislyn poked him in the thigh. "Care to enlighten the rest of us what you're rambling about?"

Lucian started. He hadn't realized he had been thinking out loud. He looked down into his drink suspiciously. He wasn't sure he liked how loose-tongued alcohol was making him tonight. "They're a mated pair," he tried to explain. "He's just being a good mate by not leaving her."

"I see. I just thought perhaps it was a trait he picked up from when you bit him," Lina replied with a bit of cheek.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the werewolf asked, brows furrowed.

Lina smirked again and started to walk away. "Nothing. I just seem to remember more than one occasion where you were that stubborn…" She disappeared into a group of vampires, letting her comment float behind her.

Lucian stared after her not entirely certain he liked what she was getting at. He watched out for Aislyn because that was what friends did. It had absolutely nothing to do with any aspect of being a mated couple. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. He looked over at Aislyn from the corner of his eye but she seemed too absorbed in her drink to notice the obvious thoughts flashing across Lucian's currently transparent face. He quickly schooled his features back to normal and they resumed their companionable drinking.

When he noticed her fingering an empty glass, the lycan offered to get her another. He wound his way through the people, pausing to greet a few here and there until he reached the tables. Perusing the drink area, he stopped to inspect something that looked interesting. It looked like wine and he picked up the bottle to read the label. "Watermelon?" he murmured. He glanced around, found some clean wine glasses, and poured a little into one. He sipped it, found it pleasing, and hoped that Aislyn would, too. She liked pear cider, after all.

He took the entire bottle and two cups with him back to the couch in the far corner she was still occupying. He smiled a little shamefully when she laughed at the fact he brought back the bottle.

"This way I won't have to get back up for a while," he defended, pouring them both glasses and then setting the wine bottle on the coffee table next to their other empty drinks.

"And here I thought you weren't going to indulge in any alcohol," Aislyn teased, taking a generous sip of her wine.

"I wasn't aware there was such a selection of interesting smelling drinks over there," he replied. "You made it sound like your mother planned to tap a few kegs and call it good. I wasn't expecting wine, cider, ales, and liquors."

"Touché." Aislyn raised her glass to that. Lucian obligingly clinked his with hers before taking another drink of the interesting wine. It was definitely a different taste and it made him very curious about what else was on that table.

It was apparently stronger stuff than he had realized. Or perhaps his lack of periodically consuming alcohol was making a lightweight of the werewolf. Either way, he found himself quickly losing track of how much he had actually consumed. Before he knew what was happening, there was nothing coming out of the bottle when he was attempting to refill Aislyn's glass. Frowning, he actually turned the bottle around to look down into the mouth.

"S'empty," he said as if surprised.

"Go get more," Aislyn urged, waggling her empty glass at him. She had pulled her feet up onto the couch and was trying her best to use them to pry him off in order to retrieve another bottle. He stood, took a moment to compose himself, and made his way carefully across the room to the tables.

Lucian couldn't remember ever being drunk before. Slightly buzzed like at the Christmas party, perhaps, but never intoxicated enough to wish the floor would hold still so he could walk a straight line. During the hundreds of years he had been at war with the Virals, alcohol had never been something he wanted to partake in. It dulled the senses and clouded judgment. Here, though, where he was safe from assassination and didn't need to remain in control all the time, he had let his guard down and lost track of himself before he knew what had happened. He thought briefly of blaming Aislyn but shoved it from his mind almost instantly. He could have told her no. Plus he was the one who had brought a full bottle of wine back with him last time. He was just as much to blame as she was for his current lack of control and coordination. Who knew that it would only take a few pints and half a bottle of wine to knock the infamous Lucian on his ass?

He reached the tables without mishap, grateful no one seemed to notice his eyes not tracking properly. As he was looking over the selections, he was pretty sure he heard a piano playing somewhere and paused to wonder at it. Looking around, he spotted the baby-grand in the corner nearest the kitchens. He frowned. How long had that been there? He had been in the coven for three months and couldn't recall ever seeing a piano in this room.

Forgetting alcohol for a moment, he stood there listening to the tune being played out by someone who had obviously been practicing piano for a long time. He craned his neck to see who it was over the shoulders of taller people. When he finally saw, he made a little 'hm' noise in the back of his throat and turned back to the drinks. Although he didn't see any more of the watermelon wine, he did find some little bottles labeled "Apple Pucker" that looked interesting. He took a few of those and went to get a couple more pints of the pear cider.

He moved slowly back to Aislyn, using the excuse that he didn't want to spill the drinks. When he sat next to her once more, passing her a glass, he jerked his head toward the corner where the piano was. "I didn't know Lina played," he managed to say.

"Since she was six," Aislyn replied in a matter-of-fact tone one often adapts when they're close to reaching that "three sheets to the wind" marker. "She tried to teach me, you know, but I'm not as good. Now Daddy... he's friggin' Beethoven on that thing." She jabbed a finger in the direction of the piano, almost spilling her drink in the process.

"I would imagine," Lucian said slowly, "that he has had much more time to practice."

"Mmhmm." Aislyn nodded and drank about half of her cider in one go. She blinked at it as if wondering how it was getting so empty so quickly. She took a hard look at Lucian's glass as if trying to see if he had given her less but his was already on the table, empty. She giggled, finished her drink, and with grace born of an immortal, slipped off the couch as she was trying to place her glass on the coffee table.

Lucian moved to try and help her back up. With a hard yank, he pulled her off the ground and half into his lap in an attempt to get her back on the couch. Reduced to uncontrollable giggles, they sat there in a jumble for a while, unable to contain their drunken mirth long enough to right themselves.

"My lord?" a gravelly voice broke through the laughter. Half choking on barely contained laughter, Aislyn and Lucian managed to pull themselves apart and gaze up at a concerned-looking Raze.

"Raze!" Lucian greeted, perhaps louder than necessary. "Join us! Where is my niece? She should be with you." The older lycan made to stand but decided against it as Aislyn had chosen that moment to prop her legs across his lap.

"I believe Trina is trying something called Jell-O Shots," the lieutenant said slowly, eyeing his leader and the vampress with apprehension. It was obvious that Raze had not been doing much drinking and he was startled by his alpha's visibly drunken behavior. "She said she would join me in a moment-"

"Jell-O Shots?" Aislyn's legs were off Lucian's lap instantly as she tried to claw her way to her feet. "Where?"

Raze looked taken aback and pointed toward the kitchen doors near the piano.

"Oh, I am so in!" Without even looking at Lucian, Aislyn rushed off in the direction Raze had indicted. Lucian looked a bit startled before making an honest attempt to stand himself. Very carefully, he followed Aislyn at a slower pace. Raze hovered nearby, worried his leader might keel over at any moment.

When Lucian arrived at a small card table near the kitchens, Aislyn was standing beside Trina. They each had a line of small plastic shot glasses in front of them, filled with colorful gelatin. Lina, who had abandoned her piano for this particular table, was holding up her hand. Those nearby had gone quiet as they watched the scene unfold.

Lucian sidled up to Aislyn, glanced at the Jell-O, and voiced a somewhat hazy question about what was going on.

"Boat Race. Jus' sit back and watch. Imma cream her." Aislyn smirked in the general direction of Trina. The young werewolf's cheeks were already bright red and she wasn't looking particularly clear-eyed either. It was probably a pretty fair match, all things considered.

"On my mark!" Lina announced. "Ready! Steady! Go!"

Lucian watched with fascination as Aislyn sucked the shots out of the cups. He didn't know, nor did he much care, how Trina was fairing. He was much too absorbed in what Aislyn's tongue was doing.

"Sire," Raze rumbled in his ear. "Your mouth is open…"

Lucian closed his jaw with a snap and tried very hard to compose himself. It wasn't working very well, though. Lina was announcing that Aislyn had won and Lucian looked at the younger Hunter-Vamp in time to see a small dribble of alcoholic gelatin slip down her chin. His foggy brain briefly told him he should clean that off her in some way not involving a napkin. He physically shook himself, managing to keep some semblance of restraint. That had to be the alcohol talking.

Aislyn, in the meantime, was rather pleased with her victory and her chance to eat Jell-O. After being crowned winner, she turned to Lucian and with a grin, draped her arms around his neck. "Toldja!" she chirped then swayed. He quickly caught her and somehow kept his own footing out of sheer will power.

"I didn't doubt you for a second," he affirmed, trying to keep her upright. She was leaning almost the full weight of her body against his and, although he didn't mind the contact in the slightest at this point, he did find it difficult to keep them both on their feet when he wasn't stable on his own. "But I think we should sit."

"Good idea!" Aislyn dropped to the ground, slipping out of the circle of his arms like a serpent. Lucian stared down at her for a long moment as if trying to recall how she got there. He couldn't, shrugged, and followed suit, sitting with her in the middle of the floor.

"Wasn't exactly what I meant," he murmured, leaning toward her to snag her shoulders before she fell backwards.

"Oh." She blinked at him then started laughing again for no apparent reason. He joined her, staggered to his feet, and pulled her up after him.

"Couch!" he announced, pointing at the nearest sofa. He sat heavily and Aislyn plopped down on his lap. The shots were really starting to take their toll on her as she stared up at the ceiling in rapt attention. "What's wrong?" Lucian asked after a moment.

Aislyn shifted slightly to sit more across his lap. She leaned her head into the crook where his neck and shoulder met and screwed her eyes shut. "Ceiling's spinnin'," she explained. "It just keeps going… Gunna fall over…"

Lucian quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and turned his head so that his cheek rested against hers. "I've got you," he murmured. "No falling over."

"M'kay. No letting go."

"None."

"Good."

They sat quietly for a long moment while the world turned around the young woman. Lucian felt extremely comfortable and held her as tightly as he dared. He was too far gone to worry now about what anyone thought. His world consisted of the woman on his lap and not much else. He even managed to tune out anything Raze was saying. He was vaguely aware that the dark lycan was trying to get his alpha to drink some water since it would help with any after effects of the alcohol, but Lucian was far too absorbed in Aislyn and only Aislyn to care what his long-time friend had to say about hang-overs.

"I think," Aislyn started to mutter into Lucian's neck, "that I should go to bed. What time is it?"

Lucian glanced up at a clock he couldn't quite make out then finally stopped ignoring Raze long enough to pass the question on to him.

"Three in the morning," the man rasped.

"Already?" Lucian frowned. "How long have we been drinking?"

Raze hesitated as he thought. "Since ten."

Again, Lucian's brows furrowed. "How much have I had?"

"Too much," Raze replied. "Please eat some bread."

Lucian ignored Raze once more as Aislyn was trying to stand from his lap. Once she was successfully on her feet, Lucian stood as well. "Lemme help you," he offered to Aislyn, who wasn't about to refuse any assistance to stay standing. He turned to Raze and waved off the offered glass of water the black man was trying to force on his inebriated king. "I'll be back in a minute to drink that. Gonna help Ais upstairs."

Without bothering to wait for a reply, Lucian put his arm around Aislyn's waist. She slung one arm over his shoulders and together they made their way toward the far end of the room, behind the kegs, to where the stairway stood. As they went, Lucian noticed the groups had thinned out as people were retiring for the night. Aislyn wasn't the first one calling it quits.

Somewhere behind them a group had broken out in some bawdy Irish drinking ballad. Although Lucian swore he could hear Lina's voice in there, he didn't bother turning to look. He was quite intent to get Aislyn safely put to bed before rejoining the party.

At first, Lucian though that navigating the stairs would prove difficult in his unstable state. He didn't really register that they had made it onto the landing until he was staring at Aislyn's bedroom door. He paused there, trying to remember how in the world they had managed to make it up that far without falling over. In retrospect, it wasn't that important so he pushed it out of his mind and shoved her door open. He faintly heard it click shut behind him and they pressed on into her bedroom without a second thought.

Once there he deposited her on the edge of the bed. She sat for a long moment, staring at the floor as she tried to will the world to stop moving so fast. Lucian stood before her, gazing down with some hesitation.

"Will you be alright?" he started somewhat awkwardly. He wasn't entirely certain at this point if _he_ was going to be able to make it back downstairs without breaking his neck. Aislyn had drunk more than he and that wasn't a very promising thought for her ability to take care of herself for the night.

"Sure," she replied in a tone that wasn't convincing. She started to pull off the sweater she was wearing and got lost in it. That caused her to break into uncontrollable giggling, which made matters worse. Lucian found himself unable to resist the sound of her laughter and let himself chuckle at her.

"Here. Let me help get you bed-worthy." Grabbing the sweater, he yanked it off and tossed it to one side.

Once her sweater was off Aislyn didn't hesitate to grab the bottom of her shirt and lift that over her head, too. Lucian was caught off-guard for a moment and found himself staring at her nearly bare chest. He noted subconsciously that her bra was pink. If he wasn't so surprised by the fact that she was even sitting there with only a bra on he would have found the color funny since she didn't seem the kind to like pink. Right then, however, her favorite color was the furthest thing from his mind.

With almost physical effort, he peeled his eyes away and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She was struggling to pull off her pants. He vaguely realized that he was trying to voice a question that sounded something like "What are you doing?" although he was almost certain it wasn't quite so articulate.

"Gettin' ready for bed," she explained matter-of-factly. "What? D'you think I usually sleep fully clothed?"

"It'd be rude to think otherwise," he admitted as clearly as he could. He watched her wrestle with her jeans for another moment before resigning to help her further disrobe. He didn't point out to her that trying to take off one's pants while sitting wasn't very effective. "Feet up," he ordered at last, taking hold of the cuffs of her pant legs. She lifted her legs obediently and he pulled back. They came off easier than he had expected and found himself stumbling backwards. Aislyn laughed as he staggered to gain his balance once more. Shaking his head to try and clear it, Lucian moved back to the bedside.

"Alright," he sighed, fixing his eyes on her face for fear he would be lost in her cleavage if he let his eyes wander. He kept reminding himself that it was no different than if she were wearing a bikini. It didn't matter that a bikini would have been just as alluring as her underwear. "Let's get you under-" His voice failed him as she leaned forward suddenly. She brought her face a few inches from his, then giggled.

"You forgot something."

"What?" Lucian's mouth went dry as he heard the small click of a clasp being released. With all the will power his drunken mind could muster, he locked his eyes to her face and refused to look down. He could see her shoulders wriggle as she rid herself of her last upper garment and tossed it aside.

Under normal circumstances, Lucian would not have felt so extremely shy and awkward about nudity. Lycans were cursed with the inability to stay dressed when they transformed back from wolf form to human. The number of people that had seen Lucian naked over the years was astounding. Modesty had nothing to do with their lifestyle.

It was different, though, when the naked party was someone he was physically attracted to. Her nearness was starting to cloud his already unclear mind. He could feel his control starting to slip as they held their positions in silence. He wasn't sure how much time had passed; it felt like an eternity but in reality it was only a few seconds.

Very carefully, Lucian leaned over and planted his hands on either side of her thighs, bringing her face to actual eye level with him. He searched them for a moment. He noticed she was breathing shallowly; her eyes were almost completely dilated. Sighing, he shook his head.

"Good night, Aislyn," he murmured. Carefully, he leaned forward and planted a very small, very soft kiss on her mouth. His intention was to kiss her good night and leave. He accomplished only half of that objective. As he started to pull back from the kiss, his mind changed and he moved back in for a little bit more. His last fully conscious thoughts were along the lines of 'what would it hurt?' After that, instinct took over.

Aislyn's hands snaked up to delve her fingers into his hair, pulling him downward as she lay back. He went willingly, ignoring any little voice that may have been screaming in the back of his mind to stop before things went way too far. He wasn't sure how, but between the efforts of the two of them, he found himself shirtless. He pulled her upright, breaking their embrace long enough to take a deep breath and regard her through half lidded eyes. Her cheeks were flushed with color, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.

Lucian, too, was breathing hard. From somewhere deep inside a well of desire was threatening to overflow. All the denial of the previous month was forgotten as he gazed at woman who was suddenly trying to undo his belt. He stilled her hands, brought them up to his mouth, and kissed each palm gently. His mouth traveled down one of her wrists, along the inside of her forearm, then jumped to her shoulder. He could hear her breath hitch as his lips made contact with the spot on her neck where her pulse throbbed. He could feel it hammering, mirroring his own rapid heart-beat.

He let his hands run down her arms and back up again. There were still faint scars criss-crossing her skin from the Holy blade Helena had used. They would fade in time but Lucian let his fingers explore the difference in texture as his mouth found hers again, drawing her back in deeply. With a sudden urgency, he slipped his arms around her body and pulled her against him, needing to feel her skin more fully against his.

Aislyn shifted slightly to straddle his lap without breaking their contact. She nipped at his bottom lip and slowly slid her hands back down his chest toward that belt she knew was still buckled somewhere down there. She managed to get it undone and whipped it out as she pulled back. She dropped it off the side of the bed and returned her hands to his waist line.

As she fumbled with the snap and zip, he returned his relentless attack to her neck. He bit down gently, not enough to puncture her skin but enough to elicit a tasty moan from her lips. The sound itself had an overwhelming effect on the lycan and he quickly flipped them back over so Aislyn was suddenly staring at the ceiling. She blinked up at him a couple times then smirked.

"Much better," she murmured and popped the button on his pants with a quick twist. "You are much too over dressed for this party."

He gazed down at her body for a long moment while she made some attempts to push his pants off. He finally obliged her and removed them before returning to his hovering position. There was a brief moment of hesitation as he looked down at her. This was probably a very, very bad idea. Right then, though, he didn't give a damn and dipped his head to pull a breast into his mouth.

Aislyn gasped in surprise and pleasure as his tongue roamed over her already erect nipple. His hand had found her other breast and was fully exploring its contours and the texture change at the areola. He bit down softly on the pert nipple and the woman moaned again, arching her back to press further into his ministrations. He shifted and she felt something hard pressing against her thigh that was not his leg. A tingling sensation spread through her lower belly, creeping further down as her hazy mind made the connection about what it was. She hadn't exactly looked but apparently he had removed more than just his pants.

She wiggled downward a little, lost in her own want and not paying much attention to anything else, let alone common sense. He pulled away from her breasts to latch onto her mouth once more. He felt her arch under him and groaned as the slight change in position caused him to press against the restrictive confines of the underwear she was still wearing. The sudden feeling of cloth against his member was frustrating and he had half a mind to rip her panties off. The other half of his mind somehow managed to maintain control and he left them in place as a safeguard against doing something truly stupid.

Aislyn, however, was too far past common sense. Between the alcohol and her own intense feelings of want, she had long since ditched any attempt to stop what was happening. She pressed against him again, growling her frustration at the barrier. Images of past dreams kept forcing their way into her mind and she wanted badly to live those scenes at that very moment. It was she that reached down and pulled off the panties in the end. Bucking her hips upward, Aislyn did her best to invite him in.

Panting, Lucian pulled away and gripped her firmly by the hips, pushing her down to keep her from grinding up against him anymore. He met confused and disappointed eyes and sighed deeply. She whimpered and tried to strain against his force but he was physically stronger. How could he make her understand that he just couldn't allow himself to lose control to that point?

"Why?" she asked at last when neither moved. She was obviously hurt and didn't bother to hide the fact. If he didn't actually want _that_ then it was about the worst rejection she could get from him. "Lucian?" Her feelings remained plastered clearly on her face and he realized that his actions were basically telling her he didn't care an ounce about her. Wolves, after all, only mated with those they loved and Aislyn knew that. Getting as far as they had and then telling her 'no' was sending very mixed signals.

"It's not that," he tried to reassure her.

Anger started to creep into the edges of her eyes. "What then?" With a motion too fast to stop, she reached down and wrapped her fingers around an obviously interested manhood. The feeling of her hand encircling him caused a low moan to escape Lucian's throat. He hung his head for a moment as her hand started to move with agonizing slowness a long his length. "_This_ doesn't seem like a very convincing 'no.'"

"Ais…" he started, trying very unsuccessfully to keep his hips still. They seemed to have a mind of their own as they rocked forward with each stroke. He felt himself bump against her opening and had the sudden urge to ignore his conscience and delve into the inviting darkness. "Not… not drunk," he finally pleaded. It took all his effort to sit back away from her.

Aislyn sat up as well, blinking at him in confusion.

"Not drunk," he said again, shaking his head and running hands through his hair. "You could wake up regretting this. We're not in our right minds."

"I'm fine-"

"_Not_ drunk," he stressed. "Not drunk." Lucian made as if to stand. If he left, he could easily end what they had started. It was obvious his body wanted something completely different, though. Aislyn held him back, stopping him from leaving the bed.

"Okay," she agreed firmly. "Not drunk. Just please don't go." She gazed into his face so earnestly he agreed instantly. She smiled then, tracing the line of his jaw with one finger. He may not have wanted to do _that _particular thing while intoxicated but there was something she could do that wasn't a binding contract. And it could potentially sate his lust until he _was_ ready to make that commitment.

"Wha-" Lucian's words died on his lips as he felt a hot wetness close around the head of his member. His hands clutched her hair, pulling it back away from her face as she dipped her head. This was an unexpected turn of events…

* * *

"We'll have to face them eventually," Michael said logically. "This is their house."

Selene was standing at one of the windows of the rooms they had been given, leaning against the frame as she watched some figures moving in the distant snow. The sun glinted off the white surface of the world, threatening to hurt her sensitive eyes. It wasn't enough to deter her from gazing out at the falling snow in wonderment. She had only been daywalking for a few months and was still amazed at the beauty of the world when the sun was out. She usually did not dare to try and look outside during daylight, just in case. Now that she could stand the direct sunlight, she realized how much she had missed it.

At Michael's words she cast him a partially annoyed look. "I'm not going anywhere while the sun is up."

"I really don't see why-"

"You met a few. You said they were vampires. I'd rather not raise any suspicions. This isn't exactly normal." As if to make her point, Selene let the sunlight fall across her hand, twiddling her fingers in the beam. "Plus this place is crawling with lycans." She jerked her head at the figures patrolling the complex that she had been watching.

"They're allies," Michael reminded her. Selene huffed in the back of her throat.

"They're Lucian's men. Do you know how many hundreds of his people I have slaughtered in my lifetime? I doubt I will be welcomed with open arms." Selene pushed away from the window and walked slowly to where Michael sat. When she had awoken the previous night, he had filled her in on what had happened since the attack. The news of Lucian's arrival was not sitting entirely well with the vampress. Since discovering Viktor's betrayal and utter disregard for any life not his own, Selene was able to better sympathize with the werewolves. Lucian, however, was still a dangerous memory and being on the same side as him was going to take some getting used to.

"Neither of us are dead yet," Michael continued, trying his best not to rise to her crankiness. She was just nervous and he understood that.

"We don't know who these vampires are," Selene said darkly. "They might not be friendly. They're allied with lycans, after all."

"They saved our asses."

"Because of Lucian, most likely."

"Selene, I'm half lycan; you and I are not exactly unfriendly to each other. There is a good chance these vampires are on our side." Michael stood from his seat and took her shoulders firmly in his hands.

"That's different," she tried to argue although she did not pull away from his grip.

Michael threw his hands up in surrender. He didn't want to get into a fight with her over imagined dangers, especially since she had a huge 'I told you so' hanging over him he did not want her to bring up. She had, after all, told him they were being followed and he had ignored it, saying that she was just being paranoid.

He had met Vlad and Lina the night of the attack when they held that meeting. He felt they were sincere and able to be trusted. Once Selene had a chance to speak with them, he had the feeling she would realize that, too.

"So you'll come down tonight?" Michael prompted, trying to steer the conversation back to their plans.

"I suppose I must." She returned to her window, crossing her arms and gazing passively down at the complex grounds.

Michael resisted the urge to pull at his blondish-brown hair in frustration. He loved her. He truly did. But sometimes Selene could be impossible. "When I saved your life back in September, you felt obliged to save mine, even though you knew it would probably end badly for you. Don't you think we owe these people that same debt?"

She didn't respond at first and he watched her shoulders rise and fall as she breathed evenly. She could be so stoic at times it was difficult to read her. When the silence continued, Michael plowed ahead in hopes of getting some sort of reaction.

"Lina spoke of these things called Dolls when I was talking with her. She told me how they're the whole reason everyone is working together right now. They could use all the help they can get."

"It isn't our war," Selene retorted, not moving a muscle as she spoke.

"And those Slayers attacking us, the ones that nearly killed you? That wasn't their fight yet they came to our rescue. You didn't see that woman's leg. I worked the trauma ward at the hospital for over a year, Selene, and never saw anything that mangled. A man lost his arm, for Christ's sake, just to rescue us, to save _us_."

Selene sighed and finally turned away from the window. She looked worn. "I know we owe these people a debt, Michael, but I'm tired of fighting and war. We were finally rid of one to walk right into another. I know what we should rightfully do but that does not mean I have to like the idea."

"I know that." Michael sighed, too, one arm akimbo, the other in his hair to push it away from his face. "Would it make you feel better if I went down there and scoped things out?"

"Yes." Selene leaned against the windowsill, crossing her legs at the ankles. "Find how what you can about this coven and those within it. I think I'm going to go back to bed for a little bit, I'm feeling weak still."

* * *

Those were not his curtains. His bed curtains were green. These curtains were blue. He frowned and tried to sit up but groaned and plopped back down onto a pillow that wasn't his. Even just that small motion was enough to send his head into a deep, painful throb. In the history of hang-overs, this one had to be up there with the greats.

Carefully, Lucian managed to push himself up into a sitting position. He slumped forward, screwing his eye shut tightly until the ache subsided to a manageable level. With eyes still closed against any outside distractions, he sent his mind into a recall state long ago mastered that would allow him to piece together the events that led him to wake up naked in someone else's bed.

"Oh God," he muttered when the memories came rushing back. This was Aislyn's room, of course. This was her bed. And that somewhat dry but sticky feeling on his genitals was mixture of her saliva and his semen. At least, he reflected darkly, it wasn't something else mixed with his bodily fluid. He sent a glance down at her side of the bed then ran his hand over the space. It was empty but warm. She hadn't been up long.

From the direction of her bathroom he heard taps switch on, solving one problem. Unless other members of her family took it upon themselves to break into her room to brush their teeth, she was in there. Lucian threw the blankets to one side, briefly thinking he should find his pants. Then he rolled his eyes at his stupidity and made for the bathroom as he was. He didn't have anything she hadn't literally seen less than twelve hours ago.

He walked in quietly, hoping not to startle her with his presence. The first thing he noticed was that she hadn't bothered to get dressed, either. Something about that made his stomach curl pleasantly. She wasn't trying to cover up in front of him. He moved into her line of vision through the mirror and met her eyes squarely. One look was all it took for him to know she fully remembered the previous night's activities just as well as he did.

They didn't say anything at first, watching each other through the mirror, waiting to see who would break the silence. There were things they desperately needed to discuss and Lucian was not entirely certain how to bring it up in the most tactful way. Aislyn saved him the trouble of figuring that out, though, as she set her toothbrush down, rinsed out her mouth, and turned to face him.

"If you're here to tell me this has all been one giant mistake, get the fuck out now before I throw something at you. I regret nothing."

He regarded her evenly through half closed eyelids – mainly because his head hurt too much to open them fully – as he weighed her words against what he truly felt beneath all the denial and excuses he had been making lately. Then, with fluid motion he was surprised he could muster with the way his head hurt, he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a crushing kiss worthy of any Hollywood film.

It wasn't exactly the response Aislyn had been expecting. She honestly thought he was going to try to talk his way out of it, try to make excuses for their behavior, all the things they had both been doing since the day they realized feelings were running much deeper than what was normal for friends. Last night was going to be a lot harder to just ignore and she was glad he wasn't trying to do that.

She shifted slightly to get a better angle and winced as a splitting pain lanced through her head. Reluctantly, she pushed him back slightly, brow crinkled in pain. "I do regret not drinking any water before bed," she grumbled, one of her hands leaving his chest to rub at her temple. She heard him chuckle into her ear as she laid her head on his shoulder. "We do need to talk, though," she admitted after they stood there for probably longer than necessary. "And I would like to get dressed so I can go to the kitchen and make some Hang-Over Tea."

Halfheartedly, Lucian moved away from her and into the bedroom to gather his clothing. She followed closely behind and started digging through her drawers for something to wear. She settled on a pair of pajama pants and a red tank top. It would do for now.

"What is Hang-Over Tea?" he asked at length after taking an inordinate amount of time to get dressed. They were both discovering that slow movement was the best for this sort of pounding headache.

"Something my mother came up with. It's just a blend of herbs that seem to help dull the pain until you get re-hydrated. It's just what we've always called it." Aislyn sat gingerly on the edge of her bed as she pulled socks onto her feet. "As much as I'd love to figure this whole thing out right now, my head hurts too much to think clearly and I don't want to say anything that will be taken wrong."

Lucian glanced over at her with some concern. "What does that mean? What could you say that I could take wrong given the circumstances? Didn't you just say you had no regrets?"

Aislyn took a deep breath and dug the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I assure you it does not mean anything bad. I just can't think clearly at the moment. Do you really want to talk about this now?"

"Yes, actually," Lucian admitted, pulling his shirt back over his head before sitting next to her on the bed.

"Really?" she almost whined.

Lucian felt a little annoyed at her reluctance. "I don't want to sit on this too long before knowing what's going on here." He reached a gentle hand up to smooth her hair back. "What are we, Aislyn? Where do we go from here?"

"To the kitchens," she snapped. "For a cure to this damnable pounding." She met his eyes and, with a growl, slumped against his shoulder. "Sorry," she apologized. "I know that wasn't what you meant." She really was not in the mood to think but the sooner they sussed out what was going on between them, the sooner she could get her tea. Based on the pinched expression on the lycan's face, he felt about as good as she did. But if this was important enough to him for Lucian to ignore the pain, it was important enough to Aislyn, too.

"What do you want to be?" she asked at length. She felt him shift to put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his side.

"I think," he said slowly and honestly, "we have both been pretending we're less than we are." That made sense to Aislyn and she nodded against his shoulder. "I want to know how you really feel, though."

"I thought I made that rather obvious last night," she muttered and Lucian sighed again.

"For a lycan, that would have been enough. It's how we function. You're not a werewolf, Aislyn. Your kind is different. You could go and sleep around all you want and it could mean absolutely nothing to you." He touched her chin with his free hand, turning her face up to his. "Do you see now why I don't want to do anything hasty?"

Aislyn opened her mouth to speak but cut herself off before a single sound came out. She really needed to watch what she said about this stuff. It was a sensitive subject for him and she was just about to let herself drop the Sonja bomb on him. She had to chide herself mentally about that. He had known Sonja from childhood when they made that fateful decision. He had known Aislyn three months.

Yet he had just said that last night would have been enough if she had been a lycan. They would have been sealed and she'd have to start making some announcements to her family. But he had held back because she was not a lycan and he feared she would not see it how he saw it. Was he right to be tentative about them becoming truly _them?_ How did she feel? Could she be happily chained to him for an eternity? How had Sonja felt when she realized that he would be it forever? Did she know instantly or did she need time to reflect? Aislyn's head throbbed again and she groaned, attempting to bury her face in his neck. He tightened his arm around her and remained silent, giving her all the time she needed to come up with an answer.

"I understand if you need time," he said at last when she hadn't voiced any opinion. "But I don't want to go back to being just friends. I'm tired of it, Aislyn. I really don't want to play that game anymore."

She looked back up at him again and pressed her lips thin. She wanted badly to tell him she was willing to make that final leap now but something stopped her. She had a strong feeling that she needed to prove to him that he could trust her decision and if she did not take some time about this, he wouldn't take her at her word. Her eyes hardened in determination and he must have noticed that. Lucian smoothed her hair back again and leaned in to plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You know, most species," Aislyn started carefully, "partake in this thing called 'dating.'"

Lucian laughed suddenly then cringed as he head disagreed with the loud noise. "You're suggesting a courtship," he reiterated.

"I suppose so, yes." Aislyn nodded thoughtfully at his wording. "No hasty decisions but we don't have to maintain those irritating boundaries all the time."

"Alright." Lucian felt a burden lift off his chest at the thought of being open about his feelings. He hadn't realized how hard it had been to deny what was growing there until he no longer had to. There was a twinge of excitement there, too. With Sonja, it had been hidden for many years. No one had known; they had to be in complete secrecy. Aislyn's people, however, actually seemed to _like _him. The shear relief of not having to hide made Lucian's head feel exponentially better. Until, that is, he stood up too quickly and had to clutch his head half bent over.

"Now, what was that about tea?" he moaned.

* * *

Michael peeked over the banister, surveying the large open living room. There were a few lycans but, as the sun was still up, no vampires. He figured that was pretty safe and headed down the stairs. He spotted Raze – a partially familiar face from his brief stay in Lucian's Budapest den – and made his way over to the large werewolf.

The black man was sitting on the couch Lucian and Aislyn had claimed the night before. A hat sat upturned on the coffee table. Scattered around it and piled inside was part of a deck of cards. The other portion rested in Raze's hands as the wolf attempted to flick each rectangle of cardboard into the hat. Next to the hat was a large glass of water, ignored for so long that hundreds of little air bubbles plastered the inside walls.

Raze looked up as Michael approached. When the young man hesitated, Raze motioned toward an arm chair kiddy-corner to the couch, inviting the hybrid to join him. Michael nodded and sat then looked curiously at a blanket-wrapped bundle that lay on the couch near Raze. A messy shock of blond hair was barely visible at the far end.

"Who's that?" Michael asked quietly in Hungarian. Although his English was passable, he was more comfortable speaking his native tongue.

"Trina, Lucian's niece. Passed out about four last night," Raze replied in a hushed tone, not wanting to disturb her sleep.

Michael noticed Raze's eyes were rimmed with red and he frowned. "Have you been up all night?"

"Yes." The lycan gathered his cards and started again. "How is your mate?" It was an obvious attempt to change the subject and, although Michael wasn't sure why the other man didn't want to elaborate, the hybrid went along with it readily enough.

"She was awake for a bit but she didn't want to come out while it's still day." The hybrid made a vague gesture toward the ceiling. "She'll come down tonight. She wanted to thank you guys anyway and ask some questions." Raze nodded and they lapsed into silence for a bit.

"What exactly is going on here, anyway?" Michael asked at last. "Who are these people? And…" Michael hesitated before plowing ahead. "How the hell is Lucian here? Selene and I were there when he died. I checked his pulse. A rock had more vital signs."

Raze paused in his card-flicking. He sat back and regarded Michael with eyes that were very difficult to read. Finally, he shifted enough to set the cards aside and focused his full attention on the hybrid. "Do you remember the woman who was with Lucian when they found you the other night?"

"Lina. Yes, she explained a little to me but I'm not sure I fully understand. Her Hungarian is as bad as my English."

Raze could believe that and tried to explain the situation. He was not normally a man of many words but he did his best. "Lina was a Hunter – a lycan-slayer - before she was turned into one of these… Ancients. Her daughter Aislyn has inherited some disturbing magic. She pulled Lucian from the brink and brought him back." Raze shuddered slightly at the memory but continued. "Lucian agreed to come back with her. We followed. Now we are at war with these mindless creatures called Dolls."

Michael nodded. "Lina mentioned something about those, too. Selene and I wanted to offer our help. We have no where else to go in particular, and it is about the most we can do for your people saving our lives."

"It is not my decision whether or not to accept it," Raze told him honestly. "That is for the vampires and Lucian to decide. Although I doubt they would tell you no. We have lost a lot of people in this last fight."

"You guys talk too loud," a cranky female voice broke in speaking English. "Whatever gibberish you're going on about can wait."

Both men turned their heads to see a very frumpy Trina sitting up on the couch, blanket rumbled around her lap. She was rubbing blurry eyes, her cheeks flushed. She groaned as the lights of the living room hit her vision, sending shooting pains through her head. She blinked a few times, ran fingers through her short hair, then gazed at Michael curiously. "Who's he?" She sat up straighter. "Oh! You're that hybrid thingy Uncle made!"

Her headache seemed completely forgotten as she reached across Raze to offer Michael her hand. "Hi! Welcome to the coven! This place is great, you'll like it here. Are you going to join Uncle's pack? I mean, you're still part lycan, right? And he did make you a lycan so you have the right to be in his pack. I used to be in Adrian's pack but now I'm here." She shook his hand firmly, letting all her random thoughts bubble out in her excitement to meet the famous Michael. She had heard about him from the other members of Lucian's pack and had wanted to see what a hybrid would look like. He had vanished into his and Selene's room before Trina had woken up from her blow to the head and the young she-lycan had not had a good chance to sate her curiosity about the odd creature now in their midst.

Michael looked a little overwhelmed at her sudden exuberance and he glanced at Raze apprehensively. Trina was continuing to rattle off this and that without a clue that Michael didn't understand everything she was saying. The large lycan shrugged fractionally and went back to flipping cards into the hat. Trina sometimes took some getting used to but she meant well.

"Can I have that?" she asked quickly, pointing to the glass of water. "I don't think I've ever been this thirsty." She snagged the glass before Raze had a chance to say anything.

"You're dehydrated," the older wolf explained in his monotone. "Next time do not drink so much."

"Maybe next time you can actually drink _some_," she countered, setting the now empty glass back on the table. "What have you been doing all night? Did you stay out here the entire time?" Trina looked around and waved a greeting to the few other lycans present. They nodded politely back. Being the king's niece did give her some social standing in the pack.

Raze hesitated then nodded. "I was waiting up for Lucian. He never came back down…"

Michael jumped about a foot when Trina squealed. She would take a _lot_ of getting used to, actually. He started to ask what that was for but snapped his jaw shut as she was starting to talk again. The hybrid settled on concentrating on trying to follow the English conversation.

"Do you think that…" Trina near whispered, hands covering her mouth.

Raze shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know."

"It would be about time," the girl continued. She tossed the blanket off her legs and stretched them out briefly. "And Lina would be beside herself with glee, wouldn't she."

"I think I would be more worried about Vlad if I were our Lord." Raze tossed his last card and sat back again. "He does not seem to be a very understanding man."

"Aislyn said he stopped impaling people years ago. Uncle will be fine."

Now Michael could not keep silent any longer. He wasn't sure if he understood correctly what they were getting at and his curiosity was getting the better of him. "Vlad? The man with the dark hair from before, Lina's man?"

Trina nodded. "Aislyn's father. He's _the_ Vlad," she said, surprisingly solemn and with a tone hedging on conspiracy. "The one from the old stories that aren't supposed to be true but are. He's ancient, used to kill people with spikes."

Michael frowned, thinking back to his days at the university. When he had been studying pre-med, he had been forced to take a series of history classes not related to his major, some university policy that students had to be well rounded, or something. "Vlad the Impaler? That crazy Romanian king?"

"Yup, that's him." Trina nodded again.

"Wait." Michael held up a hand, half smirking. "Are you saying this is _Dracula's_ house?"

"Yes," Raze answered this time. Michael started to laugh until he saw the look of dead seriousness on both lycan's faces.

"Seriously? Dracula?"

"He catches on quick doesn't he?" Trina half murmured out of the corner of her mouth to Raze in an unconscious imitation of Aislyn's snark. The large man did not bother to reply.

"He doesn't like to be called that, actually," a new voice supplied when no one spoke for a minute. "Just call him Vlad."

The lycans and hybrid looked up to see Lina walking toward them, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She wore a rather uncharacteristic neon-green robe and polka-dot bunny slippers, and looked as though she had been dragged behind a horse for the better part of a quarter mile. Lina carried a mug of something steamy in her other hand and she sipped at it occasionally, grimacing. It smelled strongly of unpleasant herbs.

Michael's initial response to seeing Lina was surprise. He had not expected to see any vampires walking around at that time of day. He covered his shock quickly as he noted there were no windows in this room. She would be relatively safe even if the sun was up. Why she would bother risking it was beyond him so he kept quiet. It wouldn't have mattered, though, if he had decided to ask about it. The she-lycan present was bubbling over with excitement and would have cut him off, anyway.

"Lucian spent the night in Aislyn's room!" Trina chirped by way of greeting when Lina sat next to her on the couch.

Lina winced initially as Trina's over exuberant voice cut into her hang-over. Then she straightened slightly and looked at the girl with greater interest. "Did he now? You're sure?"

Raze looked around for a moment as if checking that they were not being overheard before nodding slightly. "I checked his room not long ago when he never came back down. It is empty. It doesn't look like anyone has been in there all night. Last time I saw him he was taking Aislyn to her room."

Michael was listening closely again, trying to piece together the conversation. "Your daughter is Aislyn," he said to Lina, wanting confirmation that he was getting this straight. "The one who was fighting van Hellsing. She's _with_ Lucian, he is mated now?"

Lina was tempted to laugh at the perplexed look on Michael's handsome face but shook her head instead. "We're hoping they're finally together but it has been a couple of months of very frustrating awkward silences."

Michael looked to Raze for a more clear translation. The dark wolf switched to Hungarian for the benefit of Michael's understanding. "They have been looking at each other like love-sick puppies since October. It's like watching teenagers."

"Very irritating," Lina agreed in her own terrible Hungarian.

Michael thought about that for a moment. He started to open his mouth to add how he hoped it would turn out well. He had memories from Lucian's bite and had seen Sonja's death as if he had been there. He knew that if anyone deserved some happiness it was the alpha. His words were cut off, though by the sound of a door from upstairs. The entire group fell silent as Lucian walked across the overlooking hallway to his own room, disappearing inside. If he had seen them, he had made no outward indication.

Lina looked to Raze and Trina, eyebrows up. They shook their heads.

"Too far away," Raze explained. "When either come down we should know."

"Indeed." Lina pursed her lips.

"Know what?" Michael added.

"Mated couples take on a certain scent," Trina explained. "Can't you sense it?" When Michael shook his head, Trina shrugged. "Must be something lost when you were mixed. Usually you can tell who is with whom. Like, just sitting here with Lina I know she's Vlad's mate even if she never told me so."

"That is a bit weird," Michael admitted.

"Not if you're used to it," Trina said.

A moment after Lucian's brief appearance, before anyone could make further comments on the matter, Aislyn emerged from her bedroom dressed still in her pajamas. She made her way laboriously down the stairwell, one hand gripping the side of her head tightly as if she were afraid it would fall off if she let go. The young woman spared the group a brief glance and a lifting of her hand in greeting before disappearing into the kitchen.

Lina shot a questioning look to the lycans. Trina's face had deflated in disappointment. Raze's expression was as stoic as usual. "Well," the vampress said as she stood. "I'm going to at least find out exactly what _did_ happen." She followed her daughter's path and was soon gone into the kitchens.

Aislyn was standing at a counter on the far end concocting two mugs of the Hang-Over Tea from herbs Lina had left out for just that purpose. She glanced over her shoulder at her mother as Lina approached. "Mornin'," Aislyn greeted gruffly.

"Afternoon," Lina replied. She sipped her own tea and leaned back against the counter next to Aislyn. "Have a good night?"

The corner of Aislyn's eye twitched ever so slightly. "Sure. Drank too much." She held up a sprig of peppermint as if to indicate she was brewing that specific tea for a very good reason.

"Two mugs? Must be some hang-over." Lina shot the porcelain a distinct look.

"One is for Lucian," Aislyn explained evenly.

"How do you know he'll need it?"

Aislyn rolled her eyes and turned to face Lina fully. Her head hurt, she was thirsty, and now was not the time to be pestered about her love-life by her own mom. "Stop fishing, Mother. We didn't have sex."

Lina attempted to look affronted but failed miserably. She gave up on that, shrugged, and stirred her tea with a finger lazily. "So what _did_ you do?"

"Nothing." Aislyn went back to waiting for the water to boil. She hoped it would happen soon so she had an excuse to ignore this uncomfortable conversation.

"Right, and you were an immaculate conception." Lina set her tea down and cocked her head at her daughter. "Aisy, honey, I'm your mother. You can always talk to me about these things."

"Mother, I am thirty-five years old. I am not a child. I don't need to have 'the talk.'" She lifted her hands and made the quote marks with her fingers. "And I am not talking about this with you of all people. What I do in the privacy of my bedroom, and with whom I do it, is none of your business." The tea pot started to whistle violently and Aislyn practically dived for it in her haste to busy her hands with something.

"Oh, so something _did_ happen last night!" Lina clapped her hands and leaned closer to Aislyn. "If you can't tell your mother these things, who can you tell?"

"Tekala?" Aislyn supplied. "Trina? Selene, even? People through whose birth canal I have not traveled, perhaps?"

"You know I'm more than happy to share bed-secrets with you if you need any advice-"

"Holy Hell, I am not hearing this!" Aislyn snagged both the mugs and made a bee-line for the door to the living room.

"You know I'm not going to stop until I get what I want," Lina continued. "You know, one time your father did this thing with a feather that-"

Aislyn spun on her heel and glared at her mother. "I gave him a blow job, alright? Happy? Are you satisfied now that you know? Will you please drop this and let me get over this damnable pain in my head before my skull splits open and my brains pour out onto the tile?"

"I think you're being a little dramatic," Lina confessed. "Your brains aren't going anywhere."

"Mother!" Aislyn took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "Will you at least promise not to tell anyone? Especially not Daddy?"

Lina snorted at that. "Why the hell would I talk to your father about this? I may be nosy, Sweetheart, but I'm not an idiot."

The younger vampire sighed and screwed her eyes shut for a long moment. "I know you're not an idiot," she ground out through her teeth. "You're just a gossip."

"I promise I won't breathe a word of this unless you give me permission." Lina reached over and smoothed wild hair out of Aislyn's face. "I just want to see you happy."

"Thank you." Aislyn turned again and pushed her way out of the kitchen. Lina followed closely behind.

"So do we have a status for the relationship?" Lina asked quietly before they rejoined the others. Aislyn ignored her pointedly and quickened her pace. Lucian had arrived while she had been making the tea and she was eager to end the conversation with Lina as soon as possible.

The alpha was sitting on the love seat, his clothing changed and his hair damp from the quick shower he had taken while Aislyn was in the kitchen. He had his head tilted to rest on the back of the small couch. One arm was thrown across his eyes to block out the lights. He looked up when he heard the foot falls of the two woman, though, and smiled a welcome at Aislyn.

She handed him a mug then took the cushion next to him. She started to drink the hot liquid without a word while he inspected the contents of the tea. "So this is it?" he murmured. "It smells awful."

Aislyn smirked over the top of her mug. "Oh don't worry. It tastes twice as bad."

Lucian took a swig and nearly choked before swallowing it down. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to poison me."

"Give it fifteen minutes," Lina commented, taking her seat next to Trina again. "You'll swear by it."

The lycan took another drink and grimaced. "At this point, the hang-over seems better than the cure."

"Drink it quickly, you'll hardly taste it at all," Aislyn suggested. He took her up on the advice and downed the contents of the mug in a few more gulps. He gagged a few times and coughed into the crook of his arm, eyes starting to water. "Of course," Aislyn added in the tone of one remembering something too late that was probably important, "that does make the after-taste worse…"

The lycan-king set his mug ever so carefully on the coffee table while he worked to compose himself. He turned to say something possibly scathing, saw a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and felt any upset vaporize instantly. He could not be mad at her, especially after the last twenty-four hours. He shook his head at her, rolled is eyes and sat back against the cushion of the couch, laying his arm along the back.

Without a pause to consider her actions, Aislyn snuggled herself into the crook of that arm, pulling her feet up onto the seat. She clutched her mug and sipped slowly, letting the soothing herbs take their effect. She ignored the triumphant look that flittered across the face of her mother and didn't bother to even look at the others.

No one spoke at first. Lucian decided to consider their silence as respect for his headache and not as a commentary on Aislyn's actions. Besides, their relationship was no one's business but their own. At least, that was what they were intent to tell themselves when their respective families decided to pry. Being such high profile people, they were well aware that they were going to be bringing a lot of attention to themselves. They just hoped it would smooth over given enough time.

"So when do we get to meet Selene?" Trina asked at last, breaking the start of a potentially awkward silence.

Michael mentally shook himself and looked at the young wolf. "When the sun sets."

"Oh, right." Trina nodded thoughtfully. "She's a Viral, right?"

"A… what?" Michael frowned and turned to Raze. The large man sighed at his newly appointed roll as translator but obliged regardless.

"Virals is what these Ancients call Viktor's lot." He paused, wondering what else he could say. Although Aislyn was not his favorite person – due mainly to how she had placed him under that full body control on their first meeting - he silently thanked her when she came to his rescue.

The younger of the vampresses explained as clearly as she could what Vlad and the Ancients were compared to the Virals. She spoke Hungarian for Michael's benefit but could hear Raze murmuring a brief translation in English into Trina's ear so the girl would not be left out. Aislyn made a mental note to ask Lucian about maybe getting Trina some tutelage, especially in other languages. Adrian's ideas of education were rather lacking.

When she had finished, Michael was slowly nodding his head as if it made a lot of sense. He had not been in this life for very long and was much more open to new ideas than a Viral would have been, or a full-blooded lycan for that matter. Only Lucian's immediate clan really knew that these vampires were a different breed than Viktor's kind. Most of the other packs assumed that Vlad was like Adrian: some offshoot cousin of the major branch that decided they didn't want to be bothered so they moved to an island to get away. The vampires of the Tepes coven were more than happy to let the London packs think that and did not bother to correct them.

"Can I tell all this to Selene?" Michael asked when Aislyn went quiet.

"Yes," Lina answered for her daughter. As the matriarch, she did have more say in things than Aislyn did. "I doubt you came down here, leaving your recovering wife to herself, because you strictly wanted our company. If this isn't a reconnaissance mission to answer some of her questions, I'll eat my slipper."

Michael looked taken aback at first, then smirked and nodded. "She's a little tired of being cooped up but doesn't want to risk the chance of any sunlight hitting her. She really wanted to know a few things, though, and didn't want to wait until she could leave the room."

"I don't blame her. I vaguely remember a time not long ago where I was told to stay in one room for the duration of a recovery," Aislyn said with a bit of pert. Lucian turned his head toward her and raised his brows in mock surprise.

"Yes, and I found you at Victoria Tower," he remarked dryly. "At least Selene has the sense to stay where she has been put."

"This coming from a man that escaped prison to start a six hundred year war," Aislyn commented into her mug. She clamped her mouth shut and shot him an apologetic look but he ignored her words and only squeezed her shoulders slightly to let her know it hadn't upset him. Everyone except for Michael understood how grumpy Aislyn could get when she was not feeling at one-hundred percent.

"Actually, I am surprised she has been there for this long," Michael said, switching back to his heavily accented English to save Raze from his continual raspy translation. "From what I know, she did not behave herself this well at Viktor's."

"That's because we can only have one badly behaved vampire at a time living here. House rules." Lina ducked as a pillow came flying at her from Aislyn's direction. "Case in point." Lina snagged the pillow and threw it back.

* * *

Although nothing was explicitly said - besides the confession by Aislyn to Lina in the kitchen earlier that day - everyone who saw Lucian and the younger vampire was aware of the shifted nature of their relationship. The vampires that started emerging once the sun had set were non-committal about their opinions on the matter. Aislyn was their master's daughter. If Vlad wasn't raising a stink about it, none of them would, either. There were perhaps a few that didn't agree with the fact that her chosen man was a lycan but no one could fault her for aiming high on the social ladder. Lycan or not, Lucian was still a king.

The werewolves of Lucian's immediate pack were supportive if a bit confused about the whole affair. They knew well enough Lucian's tastes had always tended toward vampire and Aislyn had proven herself as a warrior to them long ago. She would make a strong, if very unorthodox, queen. Why she hadn't been elevated to that status yet was a mystery to a specie where attraction was all it really took to find one's life partner. As soon as love was discovered that was it, good enough, together forever. I was obvious to any lycan that if Aislyn had been a wolf, they would already have a queen. What were they waiting for?

No one said anything, however. They let the odd drama play out. Some from both species were of the opinion that the courtship period Lucian and Aislyn were observing had something to do with the memory of Sonja. Lucian had been mated before and it had not ended well. Perhaps they were trying not to be too hasty about this? Neither Lucian nor Aislyn made any explanations for their behavior, though, so no one commented aloud, or at least within ear shot.

* * *

Selene finally made her appearance that evening when the sun had completely dipped out of sight, maintaining her ruse that she was not the Daywalker she had become. Michael accompanied her down to the living room and into the quiet corner Lucian's little circle had claimed. Although she had awoken a day or so ago, she had yet to leave the confines of her and Michael's chambers for fear her body had not fully recovered. She did not want to do anything to compromise her health in this new and potentially dangerous situation.

The first thing Selene noticed was the lycans. They were all over the manor and it had taken a lot of nerve for her to step out of her room knowing they were there. She had spent her life killing them. Some were bound to remember her unkindly. Michael had to continually reassure her that there was peace now between these vampires and the werewolves. No one was going to be maiming anyone else while under this roof.

Then there was Lucian himself. Even Michael's forewarning that the alpha was not as dead as previously believed had not fully prepared her for the sight of him. She had once lived in fear of him, as all of Viktor's people did, and was having a sickening feeling of déjà vu to know he was, again, still alive after being killed by Kraven. It was actually slightly ironic but Selene was not in the mood to dwell on such thoughts.

Almost as shocking was the vampire sitting ever so casually next to the lycan-king, her hand resting on his thigh, his arm possessively around her shoulders. Selene knew her and felt a very weird sensation in the pit of her stomach akin to panic but not quite the same. It was as if someone had put someone else in a picture where they did not belong.

"You," Selene murmured when she walked up with Michael. The group paused in their conversation and looked between Aislyn and Selene with kindled interest.

"Hello, Selene. You're looking well," Aislyn replied evenly. She had known this was coming and it would involve a lot more explanation and reveal more secrets of Vlad's coven. At least she had been given a few days to decide what all to tell the Viral.

Michael led his mate to one of the couches and urged her to sit, placing himself on the couch between her and any of the strangers in an attempt to make her feel more secure. "I'm a little... confused," Selene admitted. "Michael has been telling me some very strange things. I take it you're not really from Amelia's coven." It was not a question but was still directed at Aislyn.

"Not remotely. I'm not even Viral." Aislyn pursed her lips. "Did Michael tell you what we told him this afternoon?"

Selene nodded, eyes flicking around the group of immortals. She recognized Raze from the train station the day she had first found Lucian's den. Lucian, naturally, she knew, as well as Aislyn. The others, however, were all strangers.

Aislyn unconsciously snuggled a little closer to Lucian while she waited for Selene to voice whatever question was buzzing around in her head. She knew the older woman would be confused and perhaps a little unnerved by the turn of events in her life.

"I don't understand how you were even there, in my coven." Selene frowned ever so slightly. "You were protection for the emissary."

"Your lot are not the only Virals in the world," Aislyn murmured. "You knew that, right?"

"Of course I know that," Selene retorted. "And stop calling me that. It sounds demeaning."

Aislyn took a moment to compose herself, biting back a remark that she was only calling them what they were. That was unfair. The term was merely a label that had stuck, like calling the zombie-like vampires 'Dolls.' "There is at least one coven of your kind in London. There may be more but we mostly ignore them and they ignore us. They are peaceful, unlike Viktor's lot. We are acquainted with one of their Elders and she owed us a favor." Aislyn did not elaborate on that and it was clear she had no intention to. "She had acquaintance with Amelia and it was arranged for me to go to Amelia's clan this past July under the guise of being a new Death Dealer. From there I managed to weasel my way into going with the emissary."

"Who is the Elder?" Selene asked softly, eyes narrowing a fraction. She knew of a few renegade vampires that had managed to vanish before Viktor had them killed. None had ever really caused any trouble so the coven had ignored them, letting them live their lives in secrecy wherever they chose to settle.

"Her name is Luka," Aislyn replied. She had opened her mouth to say something else but hissed as Lucian's nails suddenly dug into her shoulder. She shot him a sharp look, about to say something snippy but it died on her lips at the look on his face.

This was information he had not heard before. He knew how Aislyn had infiltrated the Virals but she had never mentioned the name of the Elder and he had never found it pertinent to ask. Now he wished he had. He felt her wince and realized what he had done. Slowly, the lycan retracted his claws. He muttered an apology in a tone meant for Aislyn's ears alone. At the question in her eyes, he shook his head almost imperceptibly. They would talk about this later.

"I don't know of her," Selene admitted. She had seen the odd exchange between Aislyn and Lucian, though. "But I think that you do," she addressed the lycan.

"Unfortunately." Lucian sighed. He was not in the mood to talk about this, especially not in public and most especially not to Selene. He rubbed his forehead with his free hand, trying to ignore a headache that was starting to form. He was pretty sure his hang-over was gone and had nothing to do with his current state of pain.

"How?" Selene pressed, her curiosity getting the better of her. She had been raised on so many lies that she knew nothing of the world before she was turned by Viktor. Pretty much everything she had ever read about the start of the war was based entirely on fiction Viktor had created to keep her in the dark. Now, due to some miracle beyond her complete understanding, Lucian had survived Kraven's attack and was there in front of her. She knew the answers she craved were hidden away in that secretive mind of his.

"That doesn't concern you," Lucian replied darkly, his eyes warning her to back off. Selene eyed him hard for a moment before glancing at the others present. They seemed slightly uncomfortable about the growing confrontation.

Lina came to the rescue, quickly changing the subject. "Selene, where are our manners tonight? You only know Aislyn and Lucian. You were quite unconscious when you arrived here. I'm Lina." The red-eyed woman leaned forward over the coffee table to offer her hand. Selene took it tentatively and shook. Introductions proceeded around the group until Selene knew that names of Trina, Raze, and Dubas. Her eyes lingered of the second lieutenant's sling for a fraction of a second. That must have been the man Michael said lost his arm. It was re-attached but only time would tell if it would be functional.

"So this is your coven?" Selene asked of Lina, trying to sort through the information Michael had brought to her earlier that evening.

"My husband's," Lina corrected. "Although I am in charge during the daylight hours when Vlad cannot come out."

Selene frowned noticeably. What did _that_ mean?

"We're Daylights," Aislyn's voice added when she noticed the peculiar expression on the Viral's face. "Something to do with the Hunter blood. Michael told you about Mother being a Hunter?"

Selene nodded. "You can go out at day?"

"Yes," mother and daughter answered simultaneously.

"Can anyone else?" Selene's heart rate had picked up, although she hid the excitement well. Too many years of being a Death Dealer led to difficulty breaking her stoic barriers. It was getting easier with Michael around but she still did not easily show her emotions to others.

"Just us," Lina said with a shrug. "We still haven't figured out why that is or we'd have turned the whole coven to Daylight vampires."

Selene exchanged a silent questioning look with Michael. The hybrid nodded encouragingly to his woman. She seemed unsure, though. "I may," she finally started slowly, "be able to help with that."

Michael had been right that these particular vampires were no threat to their well-being. As unconventional as this mixture of vampires and lycans was to a woman who had spent the majority of the last six centuries killing the other immortal species, they seemed to harbor no ill-will or bad vibes toward the two newest members of the house. She also owed them a debt for her life. She knew Michael was right that they should offer any assistance they could.

"It is a long story that deals with how we ended up here in London," Selene warned as she settled herself back into the crook of Michael's arm.

"We live forever," Lucian snorted from his seat. "Where the hell do we have to be?"

Aislyn elbowed him, sending the lycan a dark look. He had turned decidedly testy since she had mentioned Luka. She would be damned if they weren't discussing this before bed.

"Please, tell your story," Lina urged, bringing Selene's eyes away from Lucian and back to the vampress-matron. "I'm curious what befell you after you left that den in Budapest. We've only heard of what happened before that from Lucian and his men."

"Well," Selene started slowly, trying to figure out what all to actually tell them and what wasn't really that important. "Once I bit Michael, Viktor came. He tried to justify what he did, but I knew him for the monster he was. Michael saved me when Viktor tried to kill me, and I killed Viktor with his own sword." She paused to consider what to say next. She noticed Lucian's eyes boring into her with a great deal of intensity and she had a bad feeling about mentioning that they were the ones who took his pendant. Steeling herself, she said it anyway.

"I'm not sure why, but it was important," she tried to explain. Although he did not speak, she could see the corner of the lycan's eye twitch. "We went into hiding for the night at an old, abandoned lab station in the woods…" she pushed on with her story. She told of Marcus becoming a hybrid and how they had to hide in a barn for the day because of her burns. She did omit the consummation of her and Michael's relationship. That wasn't vital to the events of her tale and it was none of their damn business, anyway.

"It was there that I realized I had seen the pendant before, when I was a child. We took it to Tanis knowing he would have the answers and would be easily manipulated to give them to us." She glanced at Lucian. "You seemed to know that, too."

"Tanis was a very resourceful individual for being banished. Viktor should have killed him," Lucian mused. "A vampire with only his own self-preservation at heart was a useful ally."

"Yes, we found the UV-rounds he developed." Selene shook her head. "But that is beside the point. We went to him to find out what he knew about the pendant, not to accuse him of double-crossing his own species…" She vaguely outlined what they learned about the key being crafted to lock William away, about her family being the ones who made the tomb, and that they had to go to the docks to meet the Sweepers. The story of the fight with a hybrid Marcus and of Michael's and Alexander's deaths was met with a very thick silence filled with the rapt attention of everyone present. Selene felt a little uncomfortable with all of their eyes on her so intently.

"The blood of Alexander Corvinus," Lucian breathed finally. "So if you were to bite a human, they may turn to a Daywalker should they survive the virus?"

"More importantly," Lina said, her eyes shining, "What would happen if you bit one of us? Not myself or Aislyn, we are already Daylights. But if you bit Vlad…" she was looking far away, her voice fading into silent thoughts.

"Or if he bit you," Aislyn added. "You bit Alexander to get how you now are. What if Daddy drank _your_ blood? Would the effect be passed on since our vampirism is more of a genetic mutation and not a viral strain?" She exchanged a very significant look with Lina before an excited vice broke in.

"Who cares right now?!" Trina exclaimed. "Michael's dead, Alexander is dying, and Marcus has the key!" She was sitting on the very edge of her seat, wriggling in anticipation. Only Raze's quick hand to the back of her hooded sweatshirt kept her from slipping off her perch.

Even Michael's forewarning about the bubbly young she-lycan was not quite enough to prepare Selene for this woman. She stared at the tiny blond, not sure what to make of her. Were all female lycans like this? There weren't any in Lucian's pack and Selene had not dealt much with she-wolves before. She had probably killed a few in her lifetimes but she had not exactly stopped to chat first.

"Please continue your story!" the she-lycan was pleading. Green eyes so like Lucian's shone from the woman's face at Selene. "It's so exciting, just like a movie!"

"Trina." Lucian barked sharply, giving her a stern look that told her to be silent.

"Yes, Uncle," she murmured meekly, looking a little shamefaced at being reprimanded by the alpha. Lucian turned his gaze to Selene and made a motion to encourage her to finish her tale.

The Viral nodded and continued. She explained how they found the dilapidated castle where the tomb was, fighting Marcus and William, Michael's miraculous appearance, and finally the death of both founders of the species'.

"All three vampire Elders gone." Lucian's face was set with satisfaction.

"What brought you here?" Aislyn asked. "If you didn't know Luka and had no idea I was here, why London?"

"Michael's idea, actually."

Eyes turned to the hybrid and he fidgeted. "An old friend of mine from medical school," he said in his deliberate and thick English. "He came for work. He told me if I needed a place to stay, and London seemed safe enough, far away from fighting." He smirked at the irony. "We should have gone to Fiji."

Lina snickered. "Well, we're glad to have you if you need a place to stay."

"Thank you," Selene said solemnly. She hesitated a minute before touching Michael's arm and jerking her head toward Lucian. Michael jumped slightly as though burned.

"Right." He had almost forgotten. Carefully, he pulled something out from under his shirt. It glittered in the artificial lights of the living room. "We grabbed it before we left the castle," he said in Hungarian. He was addressing Lucian directly and felt it would be easier in their native tongue. "I didn't know why at the time, but now I think it was because it wanted to come home." He offered it to the lycan-king, who reached a trembling hand out to take Sonja's pendant from the hybrid.

Lucian ran his fingers lightly over the metal, not sure what to say or do about the return of what had been his most treasured possession for centuries. He wanted to put it on, feel the familiar heaviness against his chest that was a constant reminder of his late mate. But Aislyn sat beside him, a woman he was certain now would be his mate in the coming months. How would she feel about it? Perhaps he should just pocket it, store it away somewhere safe for the rest of eternity. The thought of placing Sonja's memory in a box stung, though.

A pair of gentle hands covered his in that moment of indecision. With careful and deliberate motions, Aislyn popped the clasp and reached around Lucian's neck to fasten it there. The look he cast her way was filled with gratitude at her understanding. A weight lifted off his shoulders as she smiled, tucked his hair back behind his ears, then turned her attention to the group.

They were discussing the Dolls in more detail for the benefit of filling Michael and Selene in on the situation. Everyone was pointedly ignoring the emotional exchange between the powerful king and the daughter of the house.

"No one has any idea where the creator is?" Selene was asking.

"No. Whoever is doing this is damn good at covering his tracks. We can't seem to get a hold of one of the Dolls either to study it." Lina growled slightly under her breath. "They tend to turn into powder after so long."

"I could see how that would be frustrating," Selene admitted.

"I think our next course of action should be to talk with the Hunters we're on neutral terms with," Aislyn said, joining the conversation. "Especially after Christmas."

"None of them were present, were they?" Lucian asked. Aislyn shook her head.

Lina put a hand to her chin, thinking. "Yes, I have been wondering if perhaps talking with them would do us some good. They probably have alliances with other Hunter clans. We might be able to arrange a sort of peace-treaty with them. I doubt they would help us get rid of the Dolls but we could at least get them off our backs until after we've found the hellion that's making the Dolls."

"Any luck keeping the Slayers from causing problems?" Dubas spoke for the first time. He rubbed absently at his lifeless hand, remembering that it was Helena that had taken it from him.

"Doubtful," Lina replied grimly. "Maybe a couple of the lower ranked clans will agree to ignore us but no one is going to go against the wishes of van Hellsing. If she tells them to jump, they don't even bother asking how high, they just start jumping until she tells them to stop."

"We need to cut the head off the snake," Dubas grumbled.

"Be my guest," Lina returned dryly. "None of us have been able to yet."

"Vlad could have," Raze rumbled. "He had her right there but let her go."

Lina sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, I know. But if we had killed her, the others would not have backed down until either all of us or all of them were dead. They're a disciplined lot. Not even the death of their beloved leader will deter them during a mission."

"Truce was the only way out without losing more," Lucian murmured, nodding slowly. He had wondered at Vlad's actions, too, but had not had time to really dwell on it. Too many other things had happened between Christmas and the present. Now that he knew, he had to agree with Vlad's actions. It was the best way to preserve the life left.

"Let's deal with one thing at a time," Aislyn suggested. "We're spread so thin already with all the patrols and Doll attacks. Hunters first, then we'll see what we can do about the Slayers while we look for more clues about the Doll Maker."

Lina stood from her seat and smiled down at Selene. "I need to go talk to my esteemed husband and let him know what foolhardy thing his daughter and I are up to now. Please, make yourselves at home." She turned and walked away from the group, vanishing through one of the doors beneath the walkway and into Vlad's private studies.

* * *

Aislyn stood a bit awkwardly on the landing, wondering if she should be heading for her bedroom, or Lucian's. He had vanished into his rooms a quarter hour ago. They had not exactly discussed if they intended to share quarters or if they were merely being more open about their affections. She knew the latter to be true as they had done some copious snuggling while in the living room. Where was she supposed to be sleeping, though, was an entirely different matter. Finally, giving up on figuring it out, she went to her own rooms and started preparing for bed. She had gotten as far as pulling her shirt up over her head when the door to her main room clicked open then closed. She looked curiously toward the bedroom door and waited to see if it was going to be Lina or Lucian coming through it. She couldn't suppress the grin when it turned out to be the lycan.

He smiled back, finding her expression contagious. He had a bundle of something in his arms that he tossed onto the top of a dresser. It looked like a change of clothes.

"I take it you're staying here tonight?" She asked, jerking her head at the clothing.

"I didn't see a 'no vacancy' sign," he replied, smirking.

"What, so I'm a hotel now?" She tossed her shirt at his face. He caught it deftly and redirected it to the laundry hamper in one corner.

"Party of one, checking in," he retorted, moving to wrap his arms around her waist and press his forehead to hers. "Actually, I figured since we have a few things to discuss tonight, I would stay over. If that's alright with you, of course."

"I'll have to ask my Mother. I'm not usually allowed to host slumber parties." She squealed as he pinched her hip. "Of course you can stay," she said seriously. "I'm rather glad you're here, actually. We need to have a chat about you and your reaction to one Luka."

He pulled back from her slightly, sighed, and then released her to allow the woman to continue her bedtime prep. She made quick work of her garb, tossing it into the hamper with varying degrees of success. Lucian moved to pick up the pieces that did not make it, pausing to admire her before she slipped under the covers. She ran her hand over the bed next to her, patting it a few times invitingly. With a smile, Lucian disrobed, set the pendant on the nightstand, and crawled in. He flipped off the lamp then settled himself on his back; he tugged her toward him so she was resting with her head on his shoulder, one hand splayed over the hair on his chest. She toyed with it idly, exploring the surprisingly silky texture. Not many vampires had hairy chests so this was new to her and she rather liked it.

"How do you know Luka?" Aislyn asked at last in a partially sleepy voice. She was warm and comfortable but wasn't about to be lulled to sleep before she could get her answers.

She felt him sigh under her hand. "Luka was Sonja's maidservant," he murmured softly. "Until Tanis and Viktor found out and the proverbial shit hit the fan, she was the only one that knew." He felt her hand pause in its gentle ministrations but her fingers started stroking again almost immediately.

"Did she betray you?" she asked at length.

"No. It was actually her that told me Viktor had captured Sonja and intended to execute her." He blinked up at the dark canopy of the bed. "She kept Sonja's secrets but she was never happy about it. I wonder if she still blames me…"

"Well, with luck you'll never have to run into her and find out. We do very little with the Virals in London and she is adamant about staying out of any war, regardless of what the war is about." Aislyn pushed herself up onto her elbow to look down at him in the darkness. She could barely see his face but knew he was wearing a pained expression by the tone of his voice. This was not an easy topic for him. It was something she was going to have to accept and live with if they planned on making this work between them.

He nodded and she felt more than saw the motion. "That war is over but it still comes back to haunt me when I least expect it. I'm tired of these little surprises." He felt a hand cup his cheek and leaned against her palm.

"I'm sorry I didn't mention her specifically before."

He shook his head against her palm. "Don't be. Luka was insignificant to the coven in those years. It's no wonder she survived to start her own clan; she would be easily overlooked as unimportant. You would not have known she was another shadow of my past." He felt her move above him and returned the light kiss she suddenly placed on his lips.

"Perhaps from now on we can carry a very bright flashlight to ward off further shadows," she murmured, pulling back slightly. He tucked stray strands of hair behind her ears before pulling her back down.

"Only if you promise not to stop whatever that is you're doing with your hands," he gasped into her ear as he felt them roam lower. Her lips curved up cattishly and conversation was suddenly the last thing of their minds. There were, after all, plenty of things that did not constitute actual mating…

* * *

**AN: **Holy moly, that took a while. Hope you enjoyed it. Please do not leave any scathing remarks, only constructive critz!


	10. Confessions and Consequences

**AN: **I had a hell of a time thinking up a chapter name for this one…. Ugh.

Things start to jump around a little with some time-overlap about halfway through. I hope it does not get too confusing. It should be fairly easy to follow, I think.

**Chapter Ten: Confessions and Consequences**

"Yes, thank you. We will be there. Yes. Yes. Good-bye." Lina hung up the phone with a click then looked up from her desk to the man standing at another phone across the room. He had been eavesdropping on the line and dropped the receiver onto the body of the telephone. "Well, what do you think?" Lina voiced when Vlad had yet to say anything.

"If I were them, I would request only the two of you as well. As much as I do not like the idea of you two being un-chaperoned, especially Aislyn, there is not much else we can do. They won't meet us here with so many lycans around and I'm not exactly inclined to let them know where we live in the first place." Vlad toyed with a strand of black that had escaped the tight horse-tail tied at the nape of his neck. Twirling the lock around his fingers, he wandered to the window of the study, gazing out at the moon in the clear winter sky.

"Then we go," Lina confirmed. She pulled a small, black book from the drawer of her desk – a day planner - and flipped it open to a page two days from the present. She made a brief note: December 31th – 10pm, Saint Grace's – McMurray. Then she snapped the book shut and tucked it back away in its proper place. She glanced up at her oddly distracted husband when he had not spoken for some time. "What's bothering you?" she finally asked. "You're not yourself lately."

Vlad cast a brief look in her direction before going back to his observations of the moon. "I'm fine," he said. Lina rolled her eyes and stood from the desk, moving to his side. She leaned against the window frame and slowly slipped along its length to place herself between him and the outside. He looked down at her with a raised brow as she settled herself on the edge of the window and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Talk to me, Vlad," she murmured. "This is about Aislyn, isn't it?"

The man shrugged and attempted to avoid her eyes, looking over her head at the world beyond the window. "I assure you I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lina snorted in the back of her throat and reached up to snag both his ears in her hands. She tugged down hard, forcing him to look at her. Wincing, Vlad covered her hands with his own and tried to pull her free. She wasn't going to relent, however, and gave her husband a very hard glare. "You have been in here brooding ever since the Wake, refusing to come out and join the house. You haven't even come out to meet Selene, yet, and that's terribly rude of you. Especially since she may be the key to releasing you from another eternity of living in the dark. You, of all people, have never been so disinterested in what occurs under your own roof."

Vlad finally managed to yank her fingers off his ears and rubbed the tender lobes with both palms. "Was that really necessary?" he snapped, glaring back at his wife. Lina folded her arms across her middle and nodded. "I'm just not feeling very sociable at the moment."

"Bull-malarkey," Lina retorted. "It's Aislyn that's been bothering you. You don't want to come out into public for fear you'll see them together."

Vlad didn't respond and Lina sighed, leaning forward to press her forehead to the center of his chest. Absently, the tall man wrapped his arms around her and rubbed the length of her back. "I have nothing to be upset about," he finally ground out between his teeth. "Absolutely nothing to be upset about. He's only almost my age. Why would that bother me? What conceivable reason do I have for disagreeing with this whole affair?"

"I truly hope my Sarcasm-Detector is working properly because it just went haywire at that entire proclamation," Lina murmured dryly.

"Of course I'm upset!" Vlad exploded, holding her tighter than was probably appropriate. A lesser species might have complained about the sudden, bone crunching strength Vlad was using. Lina ignored it; she could still breathe. "Damn it, Lina, he's not even vampiric!"

"Neither was I," the woman said evenly.

"Yes, but you could be turned." Vlad pressed his cheek to the top of his wife's head.

"He _is_ an immortal," Lina reminded Vlad. "Plus, he's intelligent, good-hearted, dedicated, Aislyn finds him attractive-"

"You would think with what you are, you would be even angrier than I am," Vlad cut her off harshly. "He's a Wolf, Lina. Your kind is supposed to live to kill them."

"Things can change, Vlad." Lina pushed back slightly to look up into his sharp face. "I've welcomed them into our home for the sake of the war. I've learned a lot more about them as people since then. Makes me sort of regret how many lycans I've slaughtered over the years. I mean, haven't you found them to be opposite of what we had expected?"

"Yes, of course. Most of them are just like us, I get it." Vlad shook his head slightly then tilted it back to stare at the ceiling. "He's too old for her, regardless," he tried again. "She should realize that."

At that, Lina gave him a very level stare. "Oh, because you and I are so close in age that we make the best example for her?" Lina laughed sardonically and shook her own head. She stood and moved away from him back toward her desk. "Damnation, Vlad! I'm, what…" she ticked off a few fingers, thinking. "Have I even turned sixty yet?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, frowning. "Your birthday is next month sometime. What year were you born?"

Lina waved her hands between them a few times. "No, we are not getting distracted with exact numbers right now. What I'm getting at is that there is more of an age difference between you and I than there is between Lucian and our daughter. This isn't about his age, or even about his species, and I'll be damned if you'll convince me it is. You're just upset because your little girl has grown up."

"She's been an adult for many years-"

"Don't start with that." Lina slammed her palm down on the table. "I want our child to be happy and I've seen them together. This isn't another Justin, Vlad. You won't have to rush in to defend your daughter's honor."

"Justin had it coming," the lord growled. "He wasn't a very good asset to the coven, anyway."

"Beside the point," Lina reminded him. "Lucian is good for her. He may be a lycan but at least a lycan won't dump her for the first piece of ass that walks by. I think she'd do well with this sort of stable relationship. Look at us, Vlad. We're her example and we've been in same type of monogamous, stable marriage for nearly forty years. That's forty years longer than most members of this coven. "

Vlad fell silent again and went back to his window. After a moment, he felt Lina's arms snake around him from behind. Her cheek pressed against his shoulder blade and she sighed deeply.

"Can you at least promise to play nice?" Lina murmured into the silken material of his shirt. "You were downright giddy when Nagire came back from god-knows-where with Tekala. At least try to pretend to be happy with your daughter's choice."

He sighed as well, covering her linked hands with his own. "She is still my little girl," he murmured softly. "I know he is a good man, I know she's happy. Damn it, I know I should be happy. But I'm not, Nightingale. This just seems too fast and too soon. Aren't girls supposed to date around and play the field? I was expecting there to be a line of boys I was supposed to be scaring away, not one man who is about as intimidating as I am."

Lina chuckled and let him go, pulling him around to face her. "Are you telling me you find Lucian a bit scary?"

"No." Vlad snorted in the back of his throat. "I mean that I cannot stare him down. I've tried; he does not relent like others do."

"That's because you're both leaders. You should probably befriend him instead of ghosting around the manor pretending not to exist. Maybe if you actually get to know your future son-in-law, you'll like him better."

Vlad frowned down at his wife. "I don't dislike him. And don't use that term, it makes me uncomfortable."

"Son-in-law? Oh come on!" Lina's forehead smacked against the center of his chest. "Can you at least _try_ to be an adult about this? It's going to happen whether you like it or not so you might as well find a happy medium and make friends with the man!"

"I cannot believe you're not even the least bit upset about this. This future 'son-in-law' is how much older than you, even? That doesn't bother you?"

"No." Lina shook her head. "Not in the slightest. I've said before that I think he's a good match for her."

He met her eyes for a very long moment, struggling to verbalize how much this was not what he was expecting for his daughter but couldn't really find any excuse that didn't sound weak and selfish. He loved his daughter and did want to see her happy. He often wondered if or when she would find another boyfriend after the whole fiasco with that Justin jackass. It had been nearly twenty years since she had shown any interest in the opposite sex and Vlad was starting to think she would chose to remain unattached. She had never seemed unhappy with her single status and Vlad was pleased that she was content. Finally, he dropped his chin onto Lina's head.

"Her happiness is what is important," he finally ground out. "I will try to be more accepting."

"Good. I need you to tell her what the plan is, then. I promised to go deal with a domestic dispute at Harrison's home… unless you want to do the rounds?" Lina smirked into his chest as he stiffened. As the heads of the coven, they were often asked to make rulings regarding problems with their coven members. Vlad hated having to play referee to in-fighting and often deflected issues to Lina as she tended to be good at smoothing over ruffled feathers and finding the compromise that made everyone at least moderately happy. Lina knew well his hatred of dealing with the trivialities of coven life and was using it against him to force him to confront Aislyn.

He grunted an affirmative and let his wife slip from his arms. "I have a few things that need addressing first then I will let her know," he said resignedly. Lina seemed satisfied with that. She stood on her tip toes, kissed him soundly, then whisked from the room to attend to her business.

* * *

Vlad stood outside Aislyn's door and checked his watch. It was nearly midnight. He brought his fist up to rap upon the door but paused in uncertainty. Would she even be up? With any other member of the coven, he would not have considered the possibility that they would not have been awake this early in the night. But since the day they had discovered Aislyn had inherited her mother's ability to Daywalk, his daughter had been living between the two worlds of day and night. Often she would actually sleep through the darkness and be awake in the light. Since they needed as many sunlight operatives as possible, it made sense that she would keep the unusual hours.

Lips pursed, Vlad pressed his ear to the door and tried to listen for any sounds that might indicate his daughter was awake. Nothing obvious came to his sharp senses so, with a sigh, he pulled back from the door and knocked as lightly as he could and still make a sound. If she were awake, she would hear it. If she was not, the sound would probably be too soft to wake her.

His ears picked up the soft sound of feet on the hardwood floors beyond the door. Apparently she was still awake after all. The lock on the door clicked and slowly the wood slab pulled back to reveal Aislyn standing there in her lounge-wear: the usual pajama bottoms and tank top she seemed to favor. Her hair was wet and slicked back from her head and Vlad could smell her shampoo strongly. She must have just gotten out of the shower.

"Daddy," she said with some surprise. "Something wrong?"

"No. Your mother sent me to inform you that your meeting date has been set with the Hunter clans. She had other pressing issues this evening." He made a vague gesture that indicated the areas outside the manor's walls. Aislyn nodded absently in understanding.

"Well, that's good news at least. When?"

Vlad stood there for a moment, gazing down at his daughter. "Two nights from now, ten p.m." He briefly wondered why she did not seem inclined to invite him in to discuss this. He felt a bit rudely put-off being forced to stand in the corridor. His silent inquiry was quickly answered though, as another figure moved into his line of vision from the left side of the room: the direction of Aislyn's bedroom and bathroom.

"Did you say something, Ais?" Lucian started, having heard her voice from the other room. He was vigorously toweling his hair dry and did not see Vlad at first. At the sound of both the master of the house and Aislyn clearing their throats, Lucian's head snapped up to stare at the man in the doorway. "Good evening," he said evenly to Vlad.

The vampire nodded curtly back. Although his eyes were glued to the lycan's face, Vlad would have been blind not to notice that the wolf was wearing absolutely nothing except for the towel draped over his shoulders. Vlad's eyes flicked to Aislyn's recently wet hair, then back to Lucian, and finally forcefully settled themselves on his daughter's face.

"Ah. Ten p.m.," he repeated, feeling an odd mixture of angry and uncomfortable. He wanted to say something about the inappropriateness of the whole situation but knew better than to open his mouth. He would only be forced to stick his foot in it if he said anything brash to his daughter. She had her mother's temper and he was not sure he wanted to deal with that at the moment.

He saw from the corner of his eye that Lucian had vanished back into the bedroom, probably – _hopefully_ – to get dressed. The sight of a naked man did not bother Vlad. He was too old and world-worn to care about nudity. The sight of a naked man in his _daughter's_ living quarters, however, was an entirely different affair.

"You okay, Daddy?" Aislyn's voice broke into his revere and he blinked down at her a couple times. She was giving him a very serious look. He noticed there was a warning there as well. With a great deal of patience, he reminded himself of the promise he had made to Lina only an hour or so ago. He was supposed to be playing nice with the other kids.

"Yes," he responded shortly. "Perfectly fine."

Aislyn did not hide the roll of her eyes. "Dad," she murmured carefully. "If you need to say something, say it."

He shook himself and forced a smile at the woman. He knew she would see through its fakeness but he had to try. He opened his mouth to say something, snapped it shut, and placed both his hands onto her upper arms. He squeezed them lightly, turned, and vanished.

Aislyn stood there for a long moment after he did his little disappearing act, wondering if he had really gone or if he was still there. Finally, with a furtive look down both directions of the hallway, she swept her arm out in front of her. When it did not come into contact with anything, she heaved a sigh and shut her door, locking it firmly. He had agreed many years ago, when she had hit puberty and became all girlishly secretive, that he would not come into her room without her permission. He had not broken that promise in nearly twenty-five years. She doubted he would do it now.

Entering her bedroom, she leaned sideways against the doorframe and crossed her arms. "Really?" she asked, arching a brow. Lucian was sitting on the side of the bed, still completely unclothed, brushing his hair out.

"What?" he murmured innocently, not looking up at her.

"You knew damn well he was at the door," she retorted, moving across the room to kneel on the bed behind him. She took the brush from him and started carefully working out some snarls he had missed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied in the same naive tone.

Aislyn snorted and tugged none-too-gently on a knot, yanking his head backwards so he was looking up at her. "He's having a hard enough time with this without you parading your junk around in front of him." Her tone was hostile but the corners of her mouth were tugging dangerously higher, threatening to break her stern demeanor.

He smirked in reply before grabbing either side of her head and pulling her close for an upside-down kiss. She didn't resist but eventually pulled away and moved to put the hairbrush back in the bathroom. Returning to the bedroom, she sighed at him and shook her head.

"Seriously, though. Can you please not goad him on? This isn't something your dominance games are going to help."

Lucian's brows raised a fraction. "I'm not playing dominance games," he defended.

"Then what was that?" She motioned toward the central room.

Lucian gazed up at her from the side of the bed, taking a few breaths of her scent. It was somewhat distracting and the effect was starting to become obvious. "I'm not going to hide anything from anyone in this house," he said after a moment in which she moved to stand between his legs. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he leaned forward to rest his head on her chest, his arms slipping around her waist. He took a deep breath and nuzzled his face into the fabric between her breasts. "And you're not naked," he noted.

She chuckled. "After that stunt you just pulled I'm not sure I should be."

He nipped at her through the cotton top. "If I apologize for my bad behavior, will I get a reward?" She smacked him lightly on the arm and pulled back a bit. He looked up at her and exhaled deeply.

"He is going to have to get used to this," he said seriously, hands running up and down her back, feeling the bumps of her spine with gentle fingers. "Perhaps I was being a bit forthright, though. I will try to be more subtle if that makes you happy."

"I would appreciate that," she told him honestly, half closing her eyes at the feel of his hands on her back. "He can be overbearing and overprotective. It might be easier if you, you know, got to know him better or something." Her mind was starting to wander as his hands continued their massage, moving to include her sides, thighs, and buttocks. "It's very difficult to concentrate when you do that," she admitted. His hands paused and she smacked his arm again. "I didn't say stop."

Lucian laughed and started his motions again. "I will try my best not to shove this in your father's face," he promised as she climbed onto the edge of the bed, straddling him. "I'm sorry for my dominance act. It is a part of my nature that sometimes gets to better of me."

She dipped her head down to capture his mouth again. "Forgiven," she murmured into his lips. "Now, less talk."

* * *

"I'm going with you."

Aislyn looked up from the gun-covered desk she was standing at, clip half pushed into the barrel of one of her weapons. She gazed at Lucian incredulously, one brow arched. "Don't be an idiot. Mother and I are going alone."

The lycan frowned deeply from where he stood near her bedroom door. He leaned back against the frame, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm going," he said again. "It's too dangerous."

Aislyn shoved the clip fully in and slammed the gun down onto the desk top in frustration. "We've been over this a thousand times," she retorted darkly. "You walking into this meeting would be suicidal. We're dealing with Hunters, Lucian, not some pathetic Viral aristocrats easily manipulated like Kraven."

"You think I can't handle myself in a group of Hunters?" the lycan spat, anger starting to rise for the umpteenth time that day.

"You've been playing dead for six hundred years," Aislyn scoffed. "It isn't like you've had much of a chance to deal first hand with them. I'm about as close as you've really come and I'm not exactly the kind to kill you. Although with how you're behaving right now, I'm getting tempted."

"Two of you against multiple clans," Lucian growled. "Oh, that seems like fair odds to me."

"They're not going to attack us!" Aislyn threw her arms up in exasperation. "We have a truce with these people! Now if you come waltzing in with us what do you think will happen? I'm not going to have you put yourself in useless danger just because you have this obsession with trying to shelter me! I'm not a child, Lucian. I don't need your constant care."

"Really? You're doing a very poor job of proving that," he snipped. "As far as I've seen, you've done some pretty juvenile things since I've come here."

"You know what? Fuck you." Aislyn snagged her gun and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her. The force caused a picture frame to crash to the floor and Lucian dug both his palms into his eyes before going to collect the artwork. He tossed it onto a couch to inspect later before sinking into an armchair with a groan.

They had been fighting for the better part of the entire day. The night of the meeting was upon them. The only stipulation made by the Hunters was that only Lina and Aislyn could attend, being that they were Hunter-blooded. No other vampires and definitely no lycans. Lucian found that immediately suspicious and had been insisting that he should accompany them. He even promised to stay in the car unless something happened. Aislyn, obviously, had taken offense to his ideas and was not being cooperative.

Lucian was at a loss. They hadn't fought before, not seriously. There were times in the past that he had been frustrated with her, and she with him, but nothing to this extent. He knew she was a very passionate woman and he had lost his temper. Things were said that probably should not have been said and now where were they?

Lucian kicked the coffee table across the room with a heavy boot, snarling. There was a crack as the wood hit the opposite wall and one of the legs splintered. A door slammed from somewhere downstairs and the lycan knew Aislyn and Lina had left for their meeting. He was tempted to get up and follow them but that would end very badly given his current sour mood. He needed to go do something to take his mind off of her and vent his anger.

He left the room and tromped down the stairs, pointedly ignoring anyone that tried to greet him. Even Raze avoided the alpha when he noticed the simmering fury radiated from the smaller man. Only a fool would bother Lucian when he was in this funk. Those in the living room were well aware that something bad had happened between lycan and vampress. Aislyn's expression was the mirror of Lucian's, and one would've been deaf to miss the door slamming.

Lucian left the manor and walked toward the back of the complex, crunching through little piles of old snow. Most of it had melted away but there was still a little bit left. None of the human meteorologists had been able to agree on whether or not it was supposed to snow again but Lucian doubted it. It didn't smell like snow, it smelt like rain. Great, that would put him in an even worse mood than before.

He made for what constituted as the vampires' training complex, a renovated house near the back side of the complex full of exercise equipment and mats for whatever was needed. Lucian figured maybe some exercise would help clear his mind and calm him down. If all failed, he would at least destroy a couple of punching bags and that would help him vent.

Upon entering the building, he wasn't surprised to see Selene and Michael there in one corner, stretching out on a mat. The hybrid had told him earlier that week that Selene was trying to teach him the finer details of combative arts. Michael's fighting was more the instinctual hack and slash of an untrained lycan, not the fine-honed skills of an actual martial artist. Lucian just did not figure they would be there at the same time he was intending to be there. Other occupants of the building – vampires - had given the hybrid a wide berth out of respect and a little unease.

He considered turning around and leaving but thought better of it and sat back to watch the lesson with only half his attention. After a minute of watching them go through kata together, the lycan removed his jacket and tossed it to one side, then pulled off his boots and socks and moved onto their mat. He grabbed one of Michael's legs and pulled it further out.

"Lock that leg," he said sternly, kicking the back of Michael's other kneecap, sending the taller man down onto one knee. "I should be able to stand on it without you falling down."

Michael readjusted his stance and, true to his word, Lucian put the full force of his weight onto the hybrid's back leg. The lycan nodded and slapped Michael on the shoulder. He stood back as the two of them continued. He knew from experience that it was difficult to watch someone else's performance when doing the same movements simultaneously. It helped to have an extra set of eyes to correct mistakes. Selene accepted his presence and kept the count going, moving through the forms with Michael. Where she was seamless, however, the hybrid was awkward.

"Too narrow," Lucian commented, shoving Michael lightly from one side. The hybrid wobbled and fell to a knee again. The younger man growled under his breath, stood, and corrected himself.

"Too narrow," Lucian said again, pushing the hybrid over once more.

"Will you knock that off?" Michael demanded.

"Not until you learn your lesson. Do it again." Lucian stood back and let them continue. They repeated the form a few more times before Lucian felt that Michael was perhaps getting it down. He was sloppy but he was just learning. No one looked good doing it at first, anyway.

"We were thinking of sparing next," Selene informed the lycan-king quietly as she did a few more stretches.

Lucian nodded and stepped off the mat. He pulled a chair over to the edge and sat, leaning back with half-closed eyes. This would be interesting.

* * *

Lucian left the training center about an hour later feeling a great deal better. He was still upset at Aislyn but he didn't feel murderous anymore. Despite his change in mood, he didn't pause in the commons or respond to any greetings from his men. Instead he moved upstairs and back into Aislyn's rooms. He needed a shower and he needed to think clearly about the events of the day.

Since their decision to become a pair, a good deal of his things had migrated over into her quarters. He wasn't sure how exactly they had come to the decision that they were going to occupy her space but it just seemed to happen that way. He still retained his rooms, though, should he feel he needed to occupy them.

Stripping down in the bathroom, he left his clothing in a jumbled heap on the floor before switching on the shower. As it warmed up, he inspected himself in the mirror. The faint bruises he had received from Michael were quickly fading and he was pleased with how well things had gone. The hybrid learned quickly. Next time they may try his fighting transformed, once he gained better control of his human-form fighting.

Lucian rubbed at his chin slightly. It was about time he trimmed again. His hair seemed to grow incredibly fast and he hated looking too scruffy, too much like an animal. He started forming some vague thought about how much Aislyn liked him when he was all neat and tidy but thinking of her made his stomach curl unpleasantly right then. She was probably still mad at him and he did not like that thought at all.

It wasn't like he hadn't expected them to get into arguments occasionally. Even mated couples fought. That was nature and life. People disagreed. He just hoped she would get over it soon and they could continue on with their lives. He couldn't help if he felt protective of her. He had lost his last mate horribly and, although they were not actually mated yet, he could not bear the thought of losing Aislyn, too, after just having found her. It actually physically hurt to think about so he shoved it far into the back of his mind and slipped into the shower stall.

Soaping himself up, Lucian took a deep, calming breath and let his anger finally go. He would be lying if he claimed this fight was worth holding onto. He loved her, regardless of how her behavior did not meld well with self-preservation. Deep down, he knew she felt the same. He was probably just being paranoid about the meeting, anyway, and that had led him to smother her with overbearing protectiveness. If the roles had been reversed he truly doubted he would have reacted any differently than she had. Although, he probably would not have used such profane language to express his upset.

He leaned his head back into the spray, slicking the dark locks back as he rinsed shampoo from his hair and soap from his body. The quick shower revived him somewhat and he felt a lot more like his usual self.

As he vigorously toweled his hair dry he thought he heard his cell ring from the pocket of the pants on the floor. After some rummaging, he found it and looked at the screen. It was Aislyn. Maybe she had calmed down? The time displayed on the LCD screen read 10:30pm; was the meeting already over? Pulse thudding, he flipped it open and put it to his ear. The greeting he had prepared died on his lips, though, as he listened intently to the sound of muffled voices coming from the receiver. Had she accidently pocket-dialed him?

* * *

Saint Grace's Church was still and silent, the doors and windows boarded up as they had been for years. The outer stone wall was covered in trellises of ivy so thick one would have to part them to tell the walls were, indeed, stone. No one came around anymore to the dilapidated little building and the vast, overgrown grounds it housed. That was what made it ideal for secret gatherings. The Hunter clan of McMurray actually held the deed to the place and it was there that Lina and Aislyn were supposed to meet the head of the McMurray clan and a couple others.

In the spring and summer, the grounds were filled with lush, green vegetation gone feral from years of neglect. Now the trees were leafless, the grass tall and brown and soggy from the melted snow. It was dismal and dank but still held that note of overgrown abundance present in the warmer months. Non-deciduous shrubs dotted the bleak landscape of the garden and a few hedges stood higher than either woman's heads to mark boundaries throughout the property.

As mother and daughter tromped through the wild, winter-dead gardens, peaking behind bushes and through weeds, they both frowned nearly identically. Where was everyone? Aislyn checked her watch. They were at least fifteen minutes late due to an unforeseen road closure. Given the number of people supposed to be present, statistics showed at least one or two would have arrived early and more would have been on time. It was disturbingly quiet and the two vampires went on high alert, ears pricked and eyes dilated to catch any movement. Lina had her mouth open slightly, tasting the air in the same fashion a cat did to find prey.

With silent motions, Lina indicated they should split up and search the grounds. Perhaps they were just in the wrong place and everyone else was waiting elsewhere. She went one way, Aislyn went the other.

Aislyn was about halfway through her circle of the old church yards when she heard a sharp twang, a dull thunk, and a sharp hiss from somewhere nearby. Quickly, she wove through the tall grass and between trees to find the source of the sound, her heart leaping into her throat. She had a pretty good idea what she was going to find already but didn't want to dwell on it.

Breaking through an over-exuberant hedge, Aislyn's eyes fell on the form of her mother. Lina was doubled over on a clear patch of ground, a sharp, tapered length of wood protruding from her middle. "Mom!" Aislyn dashed forward to crouch by Lina's side. Lina unfolded herself and sat back on her heels with a groan. The younger vampress took a firm hold of the thicker end and started to pull it free but Lina's hand clutched hers suddenly. She shook her head warningly and glanced toward a grove of apple trees nearby. They were not alone.

"You!" Aislyn snarled, gaining her feet and standing over her mother as the older vampire attempted to pull the wooden bolt from her own body.

"What? You were expecting Hunters, maybe?" Helena emerged from the tree-line and took a few extra steps toward them. Her crossbow was already reloaded and trained on Lina's head. There was a rustling and more van Hellsings slipped out of their positions, moving to encircle the pair of immortals. Aislyn wondered briefly how they had managed to sneak past both her and her mother's superior senses. She had more pressing issues though as the point of a wooden bolt scraped the back of her head, a Slayer's finger on the trigger.

Aislyn felt a cold sweat start to break out on her forehead. A second bolt joined the first and she dared not move lest the two Slayers had itchy trigger fingers. A wooden stake to the brain would be instant death. The vampress' hands slowly slipped into the pockets of her jacket, a half formed idea in her mind. Her fingers came in contact with something small and hard. She flipped it open and pressed a button.

"Hands where I can see them. Take her gloves," Helena snapped to one of the Slayers standing nearby. Aislyn obediently pulled her hands from her pockets, praying Lucian was not still angry enough at her to not answer his phone as the crossbow bolt bit at the skin of her scalp. The addressed Slayer moved quickly and tugged both of Aislyn's pentagram engraved gloves from her hands, then took them to the blond leader. Helena gazed down at them with her lips curled up in a very disturbing grin. "Wonderful," she purred before pocketing them and readjusting her aim. "And the armband on the older one. I want that, too."

Lina yanked the bolt out with a grunt and clutched the Animus brace closer to her body. Lina glanced up at Aislyn, eyes hard. Both women's minds were racing. Getting out of this one was going to prove tricky.

"Give it to me, Gates, or I'll kill your precious little girl." Helena held one hand out, the other moving her crossbow to aim it at Aislyn's head.

"It doesn't work like that," Lina retorted darkly. "Taking it from me, even from my dead body, won't grant you the use of the blade."

The corner of Helena's eye twitched fractionally. "You're stalling," the Slayer said without much conviction.

"I am not." Lina's eyes had narrowed as she regarded Helena. The human was not injured but she was still human. Plus, Lina was not as bad off as Aislyn had been when she was facing this tyrant. And Lina had Animus. "The Animus blade will not just work for anyone, Helena. It's useless to kill me or my daughter over it when it won't do you a lick of good. Even if I gave it to you willingly, it would not work."

"We shall see…" Helena dropped the aim of her crossbow and loosed. Lina threw herself to one side, rolled, and popped to her feet faster than the arrow. It thudded into the ground between Aislyn's legs where her mother had been crouched only seconds before.

"You want this?" Lina lofted the sword that had appeared in her hand the moment she stood, "You'll have to fight for it."

"Gladly," Helena returned. She tossed her crossbow to one side and drew the Blessed blade she had used on Aislyn. "It'll be most satisfying to pry it from your cold fingers."

Lina did not respond and in a flash, she was before Helena. She swept her sword around in crescent and it was by sheer luck that Helena moved her sword in time to block. Fueled by adrenaline and sheer hatred of the nefarious Slayer, Lina drove forward, the Animus slicing through the air, its outline blurred from the speed with which the Hunter swung.

One of the Slayers guarding Aislyn started forward but another grabbed the man by the elbow and shook his head warningly. "Our orders are to guard the girl. Unless she calls for it, we do not interfere," he hissed under his breath. Aislyn was pretty sure he had intended his volume for the man alone but he must have forgotten just how keen a vampire's hearing was. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. He must be new. She just hoped that would work to her advantage. If these oafs became engrossed enough in this fight, perhaps they would let their guard down and she could do something about this sticky situation.

There was a grunt as a splash of blood on the overgrown weeds sticking out between cobblestones as Lina's sword made contact with Helena's flesh. It was superficial, but it was still a hit. There was a bit of apprehension in the Slayer's eyes now as she sized up her opponent. She was completely on the defense by that point and it was only through sheer muscle memory that her body moved the Holy blade in time to block. She was on autopilot while she tried to find a way to get back on top of this battle.

Lina took a few deep breaths, trying to maintain the speed at which she fought but was rapidly losing power as her wound seeped down her body and dripped onto the flagstones. She feared that she would not be able to keep this up much longer, making the fight a lot more evenly matched. Helena might have been nearly half Lina's years – she was estimated to be more around Aislyn's age – but she had been studying swordplay for enough of them to be a competent opponent. Certainly she was more skilled than Lina's daughter and Lina rarely squared off with anyone else. She had a bad feeling that soon she would have to start playing really dirty if she expected to best this particular van Hellsing.

* * *

Lucian did not hesitate the moment he caught the gist of what was happening on the other end of the line. At first he had thought that perhaps the Hunters had really turned against them. Then he heard that voice, _her_ voice. He had only met Helena once and already that voice was burned into his brain. Lina naming her cemented what he already knew.

He didn't think he had ever dressed so quickly in his life, throwing on the first articles of clothing he grabbed from the dresser he had claimed: a black t-shirt and pants. He did not bother with his jacket. He grabbed the guns Aislyn had left on the table, shoving them, along with his hidden blade attachments, into the duffle the guns had come from and shouldered it. He yanked on his boots and did not pause to even tie them before racing from the room and jumping the banister. He landed with a crack on top of a coffee table. It shattered under his weight and nearby vampires dove for cover from flying splinters. He ignored them. Instead he filled his lungs and yelled a single word: Vlad.

The tall man appeared nearly instantly from the studies under the walkway. He looked more than a trifle upset about the broken coffee table Lucian was stepping off and was about to demand what the lycan thought he was doing when the wolf shoved the phone in Vlad's face and pressed the speaker-phone button.

The room went silent. The muffled sound of swords clashing met the straining ears of those gathered and they shot each other confused and concerned looks behind the backs of the two elders.

"It's Helena," Lucian spat.

Vlad stared hard at the phone, his teeth starting to bare themselves. "Let's go," he said grimly, meeting the determined green eyes of the lycan-king. He turned and motioned to a nearby vampire, one of the commanders. "Organize a second party to follow," he barked before disappearing back into the study. He returned almost instantly, clicking clips into a couple guns he had apparently gone to get.

Lucian ordered Raze to gather men to go with the vampire commander – only specifying that Trina should _not_ be one of the chosen - then nodded his readiness to the master of the house. The two men turned and walked briskly from the house and to the right side where some of the cars were usually parked. One was missing: the one Lina and Aislyn had taken.

Vlad did not hesitate and climbed into the driver's seat of the same Bentley Aislyn had stolen a few months previous. Lucian occupied the passenger seat as the car roared to life. Vlad stepped on the gas before the lycan had fully closed his door. Within seconds they were tearing out of the complex and down the residential lane at speeds that could not even tentatively be called legal.

As Lucian propped a boot up on the glove box to fasten it, Vlad started pressing a few buttons on what had appeared to be the stereo system. The whole of the radio suddenly pushed itself out and flipped over to show a screen. A grid appeared on the monitor – a map of the city streets – and a blip started flashing a distance away from the icon that served as their own location.

"Fancy," Lucian commented idly as he switched feet to do his other boot.

"It comes in handy," Vlad replied honestly. "Each car the coven owns, even those that are not used for the war, are equipped with homing beacons connected to our mainframe."

Lucian started to nod then frowned. "And yet no one knew where Aislyn went in October when she stole this car?" His tone was incredulous but Vlad did not mind. It was a frank observation and the Lord cleared his throat in what Lucian could have sworn was a bit of embarrassment.

"Aislyn knows how to disarm them," he muttered. "She helped install the systems so she knows them well."

"Why does that not surprise me," Lucian said dryly. Boots secured, he started rummaging through the duffle for his blades. He worked to attach them properly while Vlad weaved around the few other late-night motorists on the road.

Vlad's eyes flicked to the bag then back to the road. "Did you bring the entire armory?" he asked with a bit of a smirk.

Lucian's eyes darted to the vampire before returning to the straps of his arm-mounted blades. "I don't have your voodoo. I did not want to come unprepared."

"This from a man whose entire body is a weapon."

Lucian sighed and sat back in the chair, flexing his fingers slightly to make sure the blades were not so tightly triggered that normal motions would set them off. Satisfied with the placement, he stared resolutely out the windshield. "I do not change unless I find it necessary."

"You did at the last battle," Vlad commented, taking a sharp left. Although now was probably not the most opportune time to have a heart-to-heart with the man who was, for all intents and purposes, engaged to his daughter, Lina's words kept echoing in Vlad's mind. '_It's going to happen whether you like it or not so you might as well find a happy medium and make friends with the man.' _He did not realize Aislyn had said something very similar to Lucian and the lycan was trying his best to do likewise.

Lucian could not detect any negativity in Vlad's tone and decided to take the vampire at face value. "I did it to protect Aislyn," he said candidly. "I am stronger as a beast but that does not mean I favor that form. If I had a choice, I would kill that side of me."

Vlad was silent for a moment, contemplating that. "Tell me," he started with a spark of curiosity. "When you are transformed, do you find it particularly distracting?"

The question caught Lucian off-guard and he blinked a few times. "In what way?"

"Are your senses distorted?"

"I suppose that could be said," Lucian replied slowly. "I would say that it is more of a massive influx of sight, sound, and smell."

"Jumbled together for a moment until your head clears?"

Lucian eyed Vlad carefully. "I suppose, yes," he said again. "Then most of what happens is distorted, as though I'm watching from far away. I have control but I do not necessarily feel as though I am there."

"Curious," Vlad murmured. "I believe I understand better now." There was a degree of respect in his voice that Lucian pondered for a moment.

"May I ask why you're asking me this?" the werewolf finally voiced.

"When I changed into a bat, I felt much the same sense of odd detachment and muddled thoughts. I am sure you have noticed I have yet to take such a form since your arrival. I have not used that form in many hundreds of years, in fact. It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, metaphorically speaking." Vlad checked the computer screen, his lips thin. They were almost to the blinking dot.

Lucian contemplated what Vlad had said while they lapsed back into silence. So they did have a bit of common ground after all. Hadn't Aislyn said it was Vlad in bat-form that bit Marcus those centuries ago? That brought another question to the lycan's lips. Since they were currently being open, for whatever odd reason, Lucian had the urge to ask something that had been bothering him for awhile, something Aislyn would probably not have had an answer to. "While we are in the habit of asking somewhat personal things, I do have a question for you." Lucian waited briefly until Vlad motioned for him to continue. "How is it," he said at length, "that if you are not viral-based, you transmitted a viral strain of vampirism to Marcus and his descendants?"

Vlad's expression took on a very thoughtful look at Lucian's question, as if he were pondering what exactly to tell the other man. Finally, he sighed, lips thinning. "You have lived through some of the largest scientific break-through's in the history of mankind. From what I've heard of your attempt to mix the bloodlines of your kind and the Virals, you have some basis of knowledge of the biological?"

"Ah, I would say so, yes." He had read many text books on the topic and probably could have graduated with a doctorate by this point if he was so inclined to try for one. As it was, getting a piece of paper that told everyone he knew as much as he did was not appealing to the lycan. What use was that to someone not human? It wasn't as though he needed to get a good paying job.

"Viral vampirism, and lycanism for that matter, is passed through saliva into the blood stream, as you well know." Vlad glanced over at Lucian and the smaller man nodded absently. "How much did Aislyn tell you about how we are created?"

Lucian thought back to the first time he and Aislyn had sat down to answer each other's questions, back in his chambers at the Budapest den. "She likened it to magic although she wasn't really happy about using that terminology."

"Hm. Yes, I suppose she would probably call it that. Aislyn was never one to study science and as she was born into this species and not turned, she has always had very little interest in the specifics of our kind." Vlad took another turn faster than was probably safe and both men glanced at the beacon to check their position. Five minutes, maybe more, and they would be there. Vlad frowned as he regarded the screen. "I think we will need to take a rain check on this conversation."

Lucian bent double to gather a couple guns from the bag at his feet, grunting an agreement to the vampire. "I will pick this back up, though. You have piqued my curiosity and I tend to pursue my questions until they are answered."

"I would not expect any less," Vlad admitted. "When we get there-"

His words were cut off, however, as a new sound was emitted from Lucian's phone. There was a sharp twang and a cry that drained the blood from Vlad's face.

"_Mother!_" Aislyn's voice shrieked from the cell. There followed a series of plunks from crossbows releasing, mingled shouts and cries, and then the line went dead. Lucian's eyes met Vlad's and both men swallowed heavily.

* * *

Lina was slowing down, trying her best not to gasp for breath as Helena was doing. They had paused in their clash to circle for a moment in a silent truce to allow both to catch their wind. The wound in her belly still had yet to seal over completely and the vampire could feel a warm, oozing liquid seeping out. Her shirt was probably soaked by now but she did not dare take her eyes off the human to check. Gauging her opponent, Lina felt she had rested enough while Helena probably could have used longer. Smirking, Lina moved back in rapidly to pick up where she left off, intent not to let Helena fully recover.

Helena, however, was not about to give Lina an easy go at her. As the vampress approached, Helena dropped under the swing of the Animus, landing onto the overgrown cobbles with a dull thunk. At first Lina looked perplexed, then her eyes widened and she let out an involuntary cry as another wooden bolt ripped through her middle, clearing her body completely to imbed itself in a tree some distance behind her. She stared blankly at where Helena sat, mouth open in shock. The Slayer was holding her previously discarded crossbow in one hand, having circled purposefully toward it in hopes of getting her hands on it.

"_Mother!_" Aislyn's voice cut through the sudden silence. Faster than a human could track and fueled by adrenaline, she dropped to one knee. Simultaneously, both hands shot up to grasp the crossbows of the men who had been holding her at stake-point. The movement startled them into squeezing their triggers and the wooden bolts shot off into the surrounding shrubbery. Chaos broke out as she released their weapons, snagged two hidden pistols from under her coat, and without even turning her body, shot both men through the groin. They dropped, screaming in pain. She stood, spun and dispatched them with a single shot from each gun. Something else – her cell by the size of the object - flew from her pocket with the twirling motion to smash into a tree trunk, but she disregarded it.

Aislyn darted toward her mother, barely registering the sting of wooden bolts as the other Slayers loosed their ammo at the uninjured woman. Only one managed to do more than scratch her as it sunk into her arm. She hardly noticed it, however, as she reached her mother. Lina had slumped to the ground and in the seconds it had taken the younger vampire to kill the two men, Helena had vanished.

Aislyn swore and stood over her mother's prone form. She kept her back toward the stone wall, both guns out and trained on the remaining Slayers. She did not hesitate to fire on them as they dodged behind trees and shrubs to reload or draw guns. She felt a bullet rip through her boot and into her calf and spun to dispatch the man who had fired it. She could not tell exactly how many Slayers were still there but she guessed at least five. That would not have been a big deal, except she was not going to leave Lina for anything and the woman had managed to collapse in a place that was rather open and vulnerable to attack. As it turned out, Aislyn did not have to worry about that for long.

There was a snarl from somewhere above and a dark form leapt from the top of the wall behind her. It fell from the sky like a stone to land on top of one of the Slayers that had just stood to fire a bolt. There was a sickening crunch as Lucian's boot drove the Slayer's head into the flagstones. Aislyn could have cried with relief as a second figure appeared next to her, guns moving to the locations of the hidden Slayers as if guided by magnets.

A bolt sprouted from below Lucian's left peck and he rolled his eyes at the hapless Slayer that had tried to off him with wood. What would have been a simple punch turned the Slayer into a kabob as Lucian flexed his forearm at the last second, the blade spearing the man between the eyes. The lycan yanked his blade free to one side, effectively slicing the man's face in half in the process. A few bullets whizzed by and the werewolf could hear the recipients gasp in surprise before their bodies hit the stone ground.

The garden fell silent. Lucian grunted slightly as he yanked the bolt from his chest and tossed it idly to one side. He turned and barely caught Aislyn in time as she launched herself at him.

"You came!" she exclaimed, her sudden fight-or-flight energy leaving her in a rush. Lucian held her tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder. His eyes fell on the forms of Vlad and Lina a short distance away. Vlad was muttering something to himself as he was pulling Lina's shredded shirt from her body. The vampire glanced up to met Lucian's eyes and nodded grimly.

Aislyn pulled herself away and wiped her eyes on the back of her sleeve, attempting to hide the fact that she had been crying at all. If Lucian noticed, he did not mention it and she was grateful for that. She was not typically the crying type.

Taking stock of herself, she blinked in surprise at the stake sticking out of her arm before pulling it from her flesh with gritted teeth. She vaguely remembered that there was also a bullet in her leg she needed to dig out but that could wait for later. Whoever shot it had apparently forgotten to bless his bullets first and the pain was negligible. There were more important things to deal with at that moment and she looked over at her parents.

"She took my gloves," she said dully as she and Lucian moved toward her father and mother. "Bitch wanted Animus, too."

"What would a Slayer want with Hunter gloves?" Lucian asked quietly as he and Aislyn knelt on the other side of Lina's body. The matron's chest was rising and falling steadily enough to reassure everyone that she was not in any immediate danger.

"I will have to make you new ones when we return home," Vlad commented as he started to scrawl pentagrams over Lina's stomach and chest, his finger leaving a faint blue line in its wake. "I've set the seals if you can do the rest," he added when Aislyn had finished checking her mother's pulse. She nodded and placed both hands over as much skin as she could. It seemed like a laboriously slow process – especially considering the ease Aislyn usually did such things - but eventually the bleeding stopped and the skin started to knit back together. When the punctures had been reduced to angry, red sores, the younger woman closed the seals and sat back on her heels.

Lucian had watched with some curiosity. "You don't need those gloves to do that, then," he murmured. Every time he had seen her do anything magical, she had always pulled her gloves on first.

"They're just amplifiers," she replied wearily, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of one bloody hand. "And short-cuts. I can do any spell without them that I can with them… but I would have to re-draw the pentagrams and sealing symbols each time."

"That would take an inordinate amount of time," Lucian noted to which both Aislyn and Vlad nodded knowingly.

"Most take extra pentagrams and seals anyway, but the base to open the channels is always the same, even between Hunter magic and the healing witchcraft I use, since they have the same ancestry," Aislyn elaborated. "The gloves give me a pre-set base to save time and energy. I have to agree with your question, though. What the hell does Helena want with them? She can't possibly use them herself. There is no Hunter blood in the van Hellsing line."

"What about witch-blood?" Lucian asked next. He was met with silence. He glanced between Aislyn and Vlad's faces, wondering at their sudden lack of words.

"We don't know," Lina's weak voice supplied when no one else seemed inclined to do so. Her eyes fluttered open and she forced a rather pathetic looking smile. "We don't think so but perhaps she got them for someone else? She's turned the McMurray against us, after all. Perhaps one of the clans that actually contain original Hunter magic is on her side, too."

Aislyn instantly shushed her mother, but not because of the information. Lucian had every right to know anything they had to talk about, but she was concerned about her mother over-doing it. "You need to rest."

"I think I hear the pot calling the kettle black," Lina murmured but obeyed and closed her eyes again.

Lucian bit back a laugh, hiding his smirk behind his hand, pretending to look thoughtful instead. Aislyn rolled her eyes at everyone before looking around the area they occupied. There was a faint sound of car engines nearby that was progressively getting louder. Tilting her head to one side, she listened intently as the vehicles stopped and the sounds of boots met their ears.

"Probably the back-up," Vlad whispered, standing and drawing his guns again. Aislyn and Lucian followed suit and kept their eyes peeled as the sounds of people moving through the brush became louder.

A moment later, a large black figure emerged from behind a nearby tree and the party relaxed. Guns were re-holstered as more familiar faces came into the small courtyard.

"It looks like you did not need us," Raze said by way of greeting. He kicked lightly at the body of a Slayer near the tree he stood by.

"Thankfully," Lucian agreed. "This could have turned into another Christmas."

"My Lord," a vampire's voice added, addressing Vlad. "What are our orders now?"

It was Aislyn that answered as Vlad stooped to gather Lina into his arms. "We need to get Mother back to the complex to recuperate." She glanced over the grounds and at the dark shape of the roof of the derelict building somewhere beyond the tops of the barren fruit trees. "Loot the corpses then torch it."

"My Lady?" the vampire looked around at the grounds in some confusion.

"McMurray needs to be left a message that we are not to be fucked with. Burn it to the ground." Aislyn gave the man a baleful look that was not to be questioned. He nodded briskly, knowing better than to argue with her, especially since Vlad had not moved to contradict his daughter's orders.

"It will be done," the vampire turned to spread the orders to the others.

Lucian looked over at Raze and jerked his head toward the vampires to indicate that he wanted his men to stay and help. His lieutenant nodded his understanding and barked to the others to gather around for instructions. The lycan-king did not bother to stick around to see if his orders were followed through, he knew they would be. Instead, he turned to follow Aislyn from the gardens.

* * *

"Hold still," Lucian ordered, his patience starting to wane as he dug the elongated forceps into Aislyn's calf.

"Perhaps if you stopped being so damn gentle and just did it already I wouldn't wiggle so much," she shot back hotly.

They sat in Aislyn's bathroom. A medical kit sat open on the marble ledge surrounding the tub next to where Aislyn was perched. Lucian knelt on the floor next to the tub, fingers red from her blood while he tried to yank a bullet out of a hole that was already mostly healed. It had not been a pleasant experience for either of them and their tempers were starting to run short. Given the circumstances, it was understandable and it was that knowledge that kept them from completely biting each others' heads off. That, and they were both very tired of fighting.

Aislyn had apologized upon arrival back at their rooms for her behavior earlier that day. Lucian readily dismissed the whole thing, saying he was happy to just have her back in one piece. Once they were back on even terms, she sprung the impromptu surgery on him. Her father was too busy tending her mother and Aislyn told Lucian bluntly that she'd rather have him perform meatball surgery on her leg than let any of the other vampire-medics touch her. When he asked her why she gave him some vague excuse about some bad past experience she really did not want to expand on. With the medics counted out and no healing witches on the premise – they had not been called as neither Aislyn nor her mother were considered critical cases – that left only one person she trusted to pull out the foreign object.

Therefore, ten minutes later, the tub was splattered in red and Lucian still had not managed to get the bullet out. He was being rather tentative about the whole process, however, as he was not inclined to be digging blunt objects into her flesh.

"You probably should have just gone to the medics," he commented over the sounds of her growling as he pushed the metal further into her muscles. "This would be done by now."

"Doubtful," she replied.

"Singe usually did this task on the men," he continued in a conversational tone. "I think he liked to watch them suffer. He had a brilliant mind but a rather twisted personality." The forceps bumped something hard and his eyebrows shot up in hope. He spread the tongs slightly and tried to snag the bullet without causing her too much discomfort. Carefully so as not to lose the pesky bullet, Lucian pulled the forceps out and held his treasure aloft for her to inspect.

"Ah, wonderful." She took the bullet from him and turned it slightly in the light. While she examined it, Lucian stood and moved to the sink to rinse the blood from his hands. When he turned back she had dropped the bullet into the now-dirty medical kit, along with the forceps, and was closing the case. He quickly wet a washcloth and moved back to her side. Gently, he wiped down the wound and removed any blood left on her smooth calf before tossing the cloth onto the ledge. The damage he had done to get the bullet out was already healing over and soon nothing would be left but a faint pink scar that would, in time, fade away as well.

"Thank you," she murmured, running fingers over the healing wound.

"Of course. Any time you need someone to jam a blunt metal object into you, I suppose I could oblige." He smirked at her as he sat on the edge of the tub and she faintly smiled back.

"Not for this," she reiterated, motioning to the bloody tub and the medical kit. "Although I do really appreciate you digging that out, I meant thank you for coming to get me tonight, especially after how badly I had behaved earlier."

He met her eyes solidly for a long moment, expression turning somber. "Aislyn, I will always come for you, through any danger or adversity."

"I basically told you to fuck off," she reminded him quietly.

"And yet I was the first one you thought of when you needed help. You could have just as easily dialed your father." Reaching out a hand, Lucian rang his fingers through the hair at her temple, pushing it behind her ear. He trailed those fingers back along her jaw then let the hand drop to her shoulder. "It doesn't matter how angry I am at you or you at I. I will come because I love you."

Aislyn blinked at him for a long, silent moment, studying his face intensely. She wasn't quite sure what to say. Naturally she already knew he felt that way. He wanted to mate her which, in wolf terms, meant he loved her. Until two seconds ago, though, he hadn't actually said it aloud and it was odd to hear it. Her stomach fluttered pleasantly and she couldn't keep herself from smiling even if she had wanted to.

"I love you, too," she told him earnestly, covering his hand with her own. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you earlier. This may have all been avoided."

"I forgave you before you even called," he murmured, his own insides tingling at hearing her say the words back. Sliding closer, he pulled her along the edge until he could easily wrap his arms around her. There they sat for a long moment, enjoying the comfortable embrace.

"What are we waiting for, again?" she asked quietly into the stillness of the bathroom. She entwined her fingers with his, gazing down at the difference between her pale digits and his tan ones.

"I'm sorry?" Lucian's eyed the side of her face carefully. He had a very good feeling he knew what she was talking about but he rather wanted to hear the words from her mouth and not assume. Assumptions tended to lead to a lot more problems than necessary.

With a sigh, she tore her eyes away from their hands and met his green orbs. She could see a small sparkle of hope hiding in there that she was pretty sure he wasn't aware of. "I'm not going to leave you, or tire of you, or do any of that ridiculous crap humans – and many vampires – are so prone to. I do have a temper and I may storm out if I lose it, but that doesn't mean I won't still love you after I've calmed down." Raising a hand, she touched his jaw lightly, feeling the rough texture of his beard.

"What are you getting at?" he hedged carefully. His pulse was thudding in his chest and he was having a very difficult time controlling it. He knew she could probably hear it and tried his best to will his heart rate to slow to normal.

She blinked at him skeptically. "Do I need to get down on one knee here for you to catch on? I don't exactly have a ring." she said with a good deal of snark, a small smirk creeping onto her face.

"I just want to hear you say it clearly," he replied seriously. "No guessing at meanings or misinterpretations."

Aislyn leaned forward and planted a series of tiny kisses along his jaw until she reached his ear. Breathing softly against his skin, she brushed the lobe with her lips before whispering into it, "Make love to me."

Both of Lucian's hands gripped her upper arms tightly, inhaling her scent deeply as she latched onto his earlobe. He felt his groin tighten at her words and at her actions. "Are you certain this is what you want?" he managed to force out, keeping his control by a hair's breadth.

She pulled away from him a fraction and caught his eyes with her own, her expression set and serious. "I swear upon whatever you want that should I ever – and I mean _ever_ – do anything to desecrate this partnership, I will stake myself through the heart."

He took in her grave expression, the ferventness of her voice, and believed that she meant every word she had just uttered. His mouth went dry and his heart leapt into his throat. Then, he smiled at her and leant forward to capture her mouth with his.

* * *

Aislyn opened her eyes and frowned with a deep sense of confusion and disorientation. Was that her bathroom cabinet? Slowly, she sat up and looked around as the sleep-fog wore off. Gradually, a smile came to her lips as the silliness of the moment hit her. With a side-long glance, she noted that Lucian was still asleep.

They were sprawled out on her fuzzy, soft bathroom rug. It wasn't the most romantic place to have consummated the relationship but they had been far too eager to bother moving to the bedroom when there had been a perfectly serviceable sheep-skin rug two feet away. They must have both dozed off after the bouts of coitus. Just thinking about it gave her a warm, tingly feeling in her chest and she thought briefly of snuggling back up to him. She wasn't really tired, though.

Standing, Aislyn crept out of the bathroom and into her bedroom to find some clothing. She vaguely noted she should take a shower soon to wash away the residue dried onto her inner thighs but she could kill for a hot mug of coffee at that very moment. Once dressed, she glanced back in on Lucian; he was still sleeping and looked comfortable enough. She would only be gone for five minutes, anyway.

She put her watch on, noting that it was just after sun-up, before leaving her room and heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. The living room was deserted, as was the kitchen, and that suited her just fine. She and Lucian had not exactly discussed how they intended to break the news to his pack or her coven and the less questioning looks from lycans, the better.

As she brewed a pot of coffee, she put on a kettle and gathered together herbs to concoct some tea for Lucian. She was well aware he preferred something minty in the morning as opposed to coffee. Once she had two mugs steaming with hot beverage, she grasped the handles and turned. The almost inane smile that had been plastered on her face since waking up in the bathroom suddenly vanished as she gazed at a pair of shocked, widened, green eyes.

Trina squealed and threw her hands up, the empty mug she had been bringing back to the kitchen flying from her fingers to smash on the ground behind her. Her hands covered her mouth and, with a suddenly frightened look, the she-wolf scurried from the room as if someone had lit her rear-end on fire.

"Crap." Aislyn hurried after the young woman. "Trina!" Aislyn hollered as she burst out of the kitchen and into the living room. The girl had been halfway up the stairway but stopped dead in her tracks at the vampire's voice. She glanced down over the railing at Aislyn as the older woman walked to the base of the steps.

"Come down here." Aislyn motioned for Trina to descend back into the living room and the young lycan obeyed as if moved by a force she could not control. Although her expression was reluctant, her feet still moved until she stood next to the vampress. Aislyn looked her over carefully, remembering what she had been told about lycans and their ability to smell mated couples. "I would appreciate it," the vampire said slowly, "If you kept this to yourself for now."

Trina nodded solemnly. "Yes, My Lady," she murmured.

Aislyn sighed. "You've called me Aislyn since we met. I'd prefer if that does not change."

"Okay." Trina swallowed a little awkwardly.

"Now, please clean up your mug. I'm going back up to bed for a bit." Aislyn moved past Trina and up the stairs before she could see the lycan bob in a half-curtsey. She was a little disturbed at how easily Trina had obeyed her just then. The girl was usually rather accommodating when asked to do something, but she had never acted quite so formal with Aislyn before. She would have to speak with Lucian about that when he awoke.

* * *

Trina hung the dustpan up on the wall where she had found it then glanced at the kitchen door as it swung open. Raze walked in looking wide awake and she smiled a greeting at him. She started to open her mouth to blurt out her newest discovery when Aislyn's orders caused her to clap her lips tightly down. Disobeying the queen could be just as bad as disobeying Lucian.

Raze noticed her suddenly clam up and raised his eyebrows at her. "Good morning," he greeted before moving to one of the refrigerators to search for breakfast. "Did you have a good night?"

"Yes," she replied, perhaps a bit too tersely for her usual self. She perched on a stool at one of the tables and fingered a napkin ring that had been left there from who-knew-when. She could feel Raze's eyes on her but did not look up, trying to engross herself in the odd, bat-shaped napkin ring.

Raze slid into the seat opposite her and leaned forward across the table. With fingers surprisingly deft for their large size, he plucked the ring from her hands and tossed it unceremoniously over his shoulder. Trina instantly found her thumbnail to be the most fascinating thing ever.

"Trina," Raze rasped. His tone carried an edge to it that was not easy to disregard. She lifted her eyes up to meet his dark brown irises.

"Yes?" she asked with as much innocence as she could muster.

"You're hiding something," he continued.

"I'm telling you nothing," Trina replied stubbornly.

"You are the most likely to tell anyone anything and a larger gossip than Lina. Yet you refuse to tell me something? This is not like you." He settled a hard stare at her but Trina refused to open her mouth and let out the information that begged to be spread. Raze finally sat back but his expression was concerned.

"Is there something wrong? Did someone say or do something to you?" The large man's features somehow got darker at the thought. "If there is someone who needs dealing with, I am more than happy to speak with them-"

"I can't tell you because I promised not to," Trina explained plaintively. "Trust me, if I could tell you, I would."

"Has someone threatened you?" he demanded again with about as much expression in his voice as he could manage. The idea of anyone in this house upsetting Trina to the point where she wouldn't talk was unsettling to the lieutenant.

"No, it's not that." She looked down again. "I've got some things to do," she said evasively and started to slip off her stool. Raze's hand on her shoulder waylaid her however and she was forced to look back into his face. She knew he was genuinely concerned for her and was touched that he thought perhaps her honor needed defending. She really wanted to tell him but she had promised Aislyn she wouldn't. She struggled for a moment, indecisive. Technically Aislyn outranked them both now and she could get in a lot of trouble. But Raze was not the sort to rush off and tell everyone and their cousin a secret he was privy to. She could trust him to keep quiet, right? There had to be a way of telling him without directly telling him. Then, she thought logically, she couldn't get in trouble.

"Listen," she hissed in an undertone. "I can't tell you because I was ordered not to tell anyone." She gave him a very wide-eyed stare as if trying to telepathically send him the information.

"Ordered?" Raze frowned. "By whom?"

"I can't say," she replied but kept looking at him keenly.

"What if I order you to tell me?" Raze studied her for a minute. He had the distinct feeling she was actually trying to tell him something without telling him a damn thing at all. Maybe if he just asked the right questions, he could figure it out. "I'm second in command. My orders out-rank everyone except Lucian."

"I still can't say." Trina chewed on her bottom lip, eyes not leaving his.

"So it was Lucian that ordered you to keep quiet?" This confused the larger lycan considerably. Raze had been Lucian's confidant for centuries, keeping his secrets and managing vital information. What could Lucian possibly have entrusted to the care of an exuberant, talkative girl that he would not tell Raze?

"No," she answered much to his bemusement.

"No one out-ranks me besides him," Raze repeated. "You are not making sense."

"I'm not telling you anything," Trina said exasperated. She threw her hands up into the air then let her forehead thunk down onto the countertop. She dug her fingers into her short-cropped locks and groaned. She mentally willed him to put the information together before she was forced to go against a direct order.

"So I've noticed," he ground out. If he wasn't so normally stoic he would have mimicked her and dropped his head to the table as well. This was probably the most frustrating chat he'd had with her to date.

"I can't say," she said weakly, voice muffled by the tabletop.

"And you can't break an order by someone who isn't Lucian?" Raze looked skyward and ran his hands over his bare head. "No one out-ranks him."

"That's what you keep saying." Trina lifted her head and gave him another long, willful look. He returned it with a frustrated one of his own, brows furrowed to the point where multiple lines stood out on his forehead. "Oh, come on!" she finally burst out, slamming both palms down onto the table. "Think, Raze!"

He was inwardly startled by her sudden exclamation, although he did not show it, and pondered what she said more deeply. She had been ordered not to tell anyone and the way she said it indicated it was not an order she could easily break. He could not order her to tell him, even though he was second-ranked, but it was not Lucian who ordered her to clam up. What did that tell him about the mystery person that somehow out-ranked him? He shot her a searching look.

"The only person who could feasibly out-rank me would be someone actually mated to the alpha," he murmured, a light bulb in his mind starting to flicker on. "Trina, is that what you're refusing to tell me?"

"I can't say," she said again, although her eyes were shining. He was getting it!

"Aislyn." Raze graveled, blinking a few times at the woman to gauge her reaction. She squirmed slightly. "It has happened then and she told you not to spread the word around."

"This conversation has been very entertaining. I'm a bit disappointed in you, though, Raze. You took your time piecing that together."

Trina shrieked and fell off her stool. Raze managed to keep himself from starting at the voice but felt a prickle along the back of his neck. Both he and Trina had been too engrossed in their puzzling discussion to notice they had not been alone in the kitchen for a long while.

Moving away from the door she had been leaning against, Lina shot both wolves a questioning look before stooping to help Trina off the floor and back onto her stool. The woman slid onto another of the three-legged seats and propped her chin on her hand, elbow on the countertop.

"So?" she asked at length when neither lycan spoke. "Do I understand correctly that I have a new son?" Her eyebrows arched, her red eyes boring into Trina's. The girl fidgeted in response.

"I can't say," the she-wolf whispered, trying to look anywhere but at Lina. The elder woman laughed lightly under her breath and smiled mischievously at the lycans.

"They didn't wait long now, did they?" she murmured conversationally.

"No," Raze said shortly. "Our kind does not usually need to dally on such decisions."

"So may I ask how you are party to this information?" Lina turned her head to Trina. The girl was shaking her own head adamantly from side to side.

"I don't know what either of you are talking about," she snapped hotly. "I know nothing and I'm not saying a damn thing about anything!"

Slightly startled, Lina looked askance at Raze.

"If she utters anything obvious about this to anyone, she goes against a direct order so she's pretending not to know anything to stay out of trouble," Raze informed the vampire

"You do realize that my daughter isn't a werewolf, right?" Lina smirked slightly. "I doubt telling the two of us will land you in a whole lot of trouble with her. She's not exactly used to having her orders followed unquestioned."

"She'll have to get used to it," Trina grumbled then slapped her hand over her mouth and started humming some off-tune song, surprised at her own slip.

"Listen, Trina," Lina tried again gently, "I won't go and tell the whole house and I doubt Raze will, either. I'll even promise to pretend not to know until Aislyn chooses to tell me if it makes you feel safer."

Trina suddenly became very interested in the marble pattern on the countertop, tracing the swirling pattern with her finger. Her head moved in what could possibly be called a slight nod and Lina took it as an affirmative. It was probably the best she was going to get from the stubborn young woman.

"Actually, I'm glad I ran into you two down here," Lina said cheerfully, her entire demeanor changing as though they had not just had the previous conversation. "Firstly, Happy New Year. Secondly, I need to get into contact with the lycan packs regarding local Hunter activity. If anyone is going to know what's going on with them, it'll be the local werewolves. Can you get me some phone numbers so I speak with a couple of the alphas that are friendlier with us?"

"We could talk to them tomorrow," Trina offered, her own up-beat attitude returning as she took her cue from Lina and pushed the frustrating exchange out of her mind. At Lina's raised brows, Trina expanded her comment. "The full moon, remember? All the packs gather every full moon."

"That's right." Lina nodded thoughtfully. "If you're willing to bring this up then go for it. I'll entrust you guys to run it by Lucian. I think I'm going to have to make myself scarce for a while so I don't go and blow the fact that I know nothing."

Raze sighed and rubbed his forehead with a thick hand. Trina readily agreed, however, and Lina stood from her seat.

"If anyone comes looking for me, I'll be on the roof." Lina headed for the door.

"The roof?" Trina called after her.

"To inspect the tiles. Vlad mentioned that one of the attic rooms had some water damage." Without turning, Lina raised a hand in farewell then left.

"Now what?" Trina asked Raze.

"Now we go and disturb our king." The tall man stood and sighed again. He cast a glance at a suddenly nervous Trina. "This way I can 'find out' without you coming under suspicion of disobeying," he said reassuringly. "Come along. We have a day to figure out how to approach the others about Hunters and we will need Lucian's permission to even bring it up."

Swallowing heavily, Trina trailed behind the larger wolf, wringing her hands together. She took a deep, calming breath and squared her shoulders. At least if she stood behind Raze she wouldn't bring nearly as much attention to herself.

* * *

"Ignore it," Aislyn pleaded as Lucian paused to look toward the main room of their quarters. There had been a distinct rapping upon the door and he waivered between disregarding it and going to answer it. He settled on the former idea and returned his mouth to Aislyn's neck.

The sharp staccato repeated on the wooden door, louder this time as if the knocker perhaps thought they had not heard it the first time. Groaning, Lucian dropped his weight down on top of Aislyn. "We should probably check that," he mumbled into the pillow.

Sighing, Aislyn nodded and he rolled off. At least they hadn't actually gotten to anything, yet. After finishing their hot drinks – Lucian had awoken in her absence to the kitchen – they had moved to the bed to get more comfortable. Aislyn hadn't even managed to undress yet before whoever it was at the door came a-knocking.

Lucian pulled on a pair of previously discarded pants and went to check on their morning visitor. He waved Aislyn to stay where she was with the promise that he'd make them go away quickly so they could get back to more important matters. Throwing the door open, he glared at the tall, black man standing there and the little blond shadow that fidgeted behind him.

"Yes?" Lucian asked impatiently when neither pack-member spoke at first.

"Ah," Raze started in a tone he had calculated to be slightly awkward. He let his eyes roam over his alpha and did his best to seem as though something had surprised him. "Sir…"

"Spit it out," Lucian growled, folding his arms. "I'm rather busy this morning."

"Congratulations!" Trina chirruped from behind Raze then clamped her mouth shut as if it had a mind of its own. She had successfully saved Raze the trouble of trying to come up with a good way to indicate he could sense that Lucian was no longer unmated.

At first Lucian looked perplexed at her sudden outburst. Then he cast a quick peek down both directions of the hallway and waved them inside. Shutting the door firmly, he surveyed both his underlings then peered over his shoulder at the bedroom door, lips thin. He had been distracted initially when he answered the door but realized they would have known at such close proximity.

He chose not to acknowledge Trina's words, however. This was his business, not theirs. "What do you two want?" he asked instead.

"Oh, ah, Lina wanted us to talk to the other packs about recent Hunter activity," Trina explained, face turning slightly pink under the careful scrutiny of the king. "With the gathering tomorrow we figured that we should probably talk to you now about it so we can figure out what to say… if it's okay with you and Aislyn…" she let her words fade off and stared at the tops of her feet.

Lucian was about to ask why it would matter what Aislyn thought about it then let his own words die on his tongue. "Full moon tomorrow, already?" He had been so preoccupied with everything lately he had completely forgotten to check the phases. They no longer held sway over him so he rarely needed to know when the moon would be full. Now that he was leader of the entire lycan clan, and they expected full-moon gatherings, he was supposed to be keeping track of this information.

Raze nodded confirmation to his alpha's question. "The first since before Christmas. Daniel's pack will have decided on their new alpha and will want your approval," the large man reminded the elder.

"A full moon tomorrow," Lucian repeated with a vague sort of tone. He heard but did not acknowledge the words regarding Daniel's pack and kept his mind on his own now pressing issues. "Well, that complicates things a bit," he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead and smoothing back his hair. "Ais!" he called over his shoulder.

"What?" She poked her head out of the bedroom, raised her eyebrows at the two intruders, then sighed and emerged to stand next to her mate.

"There's a full moon tomorrow," Lucian informed her, baring his teeth slightly.

"And?" She blinked a couple times, not fully understanding how that had anything to do with her. "I'm not a lycan."

"You're Queen," Trina pointed out then tried to disappear behind Raze at the sharp look from Lucian.

"She's right," Raze rasped in the young woman's defense.

Aislyn paled slightly. She hadn't thought clearly about that part of this whole relationship. It had occurred to her, of course, that she would be taking on the pack responsibility of being Lucian's mate, but she hadn't thought about the first time she would have to stand up before the entirety of the London packs as their female alpha and defend her right to be there. And she would have to do it uncomfortably soon after their union.

"I don't suppose I can sit this one out?" she asked hopefully, although she knew before the words passed her lips that it was a pointless question.

"It will create more havoc if you do not come," Lucian explained gently, touching her cheek with the backs of his fingertips in an unconsciously tender way. The other lycans politely ignored the open display of affection. Their king was newly mated and such public demonstrations would become less frequent once he had settled into his marriage. This behavior could be expected for anywhere from a few days to many months depending on the individual. Lucian was a passionate, if private, man who had been forced to hide his first mate from the world. Now that he could be open about his lover, however, it had hard to know if he would be one for showing it off.

"Most of the elder lycans, the alphas, and some of the younger ones with keen senses," Raze sent a flattering look at Trina who blossomed under the compliment, "will know that Lucian is no longer unmated. Those who have met you," he turned his gaze to Aislyn, "or have worked in close enough quarters with you to recognize your scent, will know it is you specifically. Those who have not will still know that Lucian's mate is not a lycan."

"And if I don't show up then I'm basically telling them all to go swivel on it," the vampress muttered with a deep sigh. "Well, I've never been one to back out of a challenge. How do we do this without causing too much rift in the ranks?"

The lycans exchanged looks, lips thin and faces grim. "We march ourselves in there as if nothing is wrong," Lucian finally said firmly. "If anyone dares to challenge my choice, we will deal with them according to the laws of the pack." He cast a gloomy glace at Aislyn. "It may be a good idea to bring your sword."

She nodded back, understanding the implications in his tone and expression. She may have to fight her way to the top to prove she could handle the responsibility laid upon her. "This wouldn't happen if I were lycan, would it," she stated darkly.

"Probably not," Lucian replied. "But as I have never had to bring a lycan-mate to a pack meeting, I cannot vouch for that." The elder lycan turned to Trina. "Any thoughts?"

The blond chewed on her thumbnail for a moment while she considered the issue. "Usually matings are not questioned by the entirety of the pack. The most stink is caused by parents of the daughter if they do not think the man is good enough but what is done is done. There's no reneging on a mating. It just comes down to an issue of rank if the others are not happy with the pairing. That's where the alpha comes into play. He or she decides the new standing of the couple but cannot make them un-mated. No one can."

Aislyn tilted her head as she took in the information. Trina had grown up in a fully functioning male-female society and had a lot more insight on the happenings of day-to-day lycan life. Lucian and Raze, however, knew only on instinct the things she spoke of. Their lack of female companionship for six hundred years tended to keep them out of this particular aspect of pack life.

"That does not mean they will be supportive of this," Lucian added, tugging the hair on the end of his chin in thought. "We will just have to go and deal with what happens when it happens." He exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. "Raze, gather the men and tell them we have much to discuss before tomorrow morning."

Aislyn caught his eyes and bit her bottom lip. "Well, if this cat is getting out of the bag, I will have some explaining to do to my family before they find out from the wolves. If I'm not needed for this particular meeting, I'll see if I can find my mother and ignite another fiasco."

Lucian chuckled at her tone and nodded. "Go on. I will see you back here later, then."

The other two lycans again found themselves preoccupied with their own fingernails as their king and queen exchanged a parting kiss before Aislyn disappeared out the door of the chambers. Lucian motioned to the door when Raze looked up. "Wake them if you have to. I want everyone gathered in one of the conference rooms within the half-hour. I'm going to get something to eat and be there shortly."

The dark man grunted a confirmation then gave Trina a slight push toward the door. They exited quickly to get to their task. There was a lot of work to do before they left for Adrian's and the gathering of packs.

* * *

**AN: **Alright, that's chapter 10! I hope you enjoyed it. I did not want to write their first night together as I do not usually do such scenes (as mentioned last chapter when I decided to go full out with the drunken-groping scene). I did not want to ruin the moment :P Anyway, next chapter should be a lot of fun to write.


	11. Heart to Hearts

**AN: **So I've run into one of those little 'author is not paying attention' issues here… the spelling of van Helsing. I keep switching between van Hellsing and van Helsing. Stupid author! I was so not paying attention. So! Although I may go back and fix it in the future, for now I am making it officially van Helsing! One L as the original Bram Stoker's version was. There. Phew, I'm glad I got that sorted. Also, I'm well aware of the inconsistent nature in which I capitalize and not capitalize the word king. I still haven't decided the proper way to do that so forgive me for being so sporadic. If any of you have any insight as to the proper English rule regarding that particular title, please feel free to let me know. It would be a great help!

Also… I still do not like writing Selene. Damn you, woman! Grow some sarcasm!

**Chapter Eleven: Heart-To-Hearts**

Aislyn sat with her legs dangling over the gutter, watching over her shoulder as her mother scrutinized the shingles. The sun shone weakly down from a gray January sky, barely breaking the haze of early morning fog that drifted vaguely by on an equally half-hearted wind. The weather promised to be cold but Aislyn did not intend to spend much of it outside so she was not concerned.

As the minutes ticked by, the young woman began to feel impatient. Her mother had done little more than acknowledge her presence – and reassure her that her belly-wound was very well healed and she was just fine to be up on the roof, thank you very much - but had yet to ask why her daughter had climbed up onto the roof in the first place. This was very un-Lina-like behavior and Aislyn was suspicious of her mother's peculiar silence.

"Well, that about does it. Looks like we'll need to get this patch re-roofed if we want to maintain a nice, dry attic." Lina finally scuttled over to her offspring and let her own legs hang off the side. She said nothing more, though, and flopped back onto the roof top as if watching clouds roll by.

Aislyn, in turn, raised her brows at her mother, leaning back on her palms to better see the other woman's face. "Did you and Daddy have a fight?" she asked after a moment in which Lina remained unusually silent.

"What? No, of course not." Lina looked perplexed and sat up to regard her daughter though her secretive red eyes. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"You're being uncharacteristically un-nosy," Aislyn retorted. "If you're not brooding about some spat then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Lina blinked rapidly a few times but offered nothing else by way of explanation.

"Then why haven't you asked why I'm up here?" Aislyn pressed, feeling more and more exasperated by the minute.

"I figured the only reason you'd come up on the roof was to find me," Lina replied with a tone that suggested it should have been obvious. "I figured, whatever that reason was, you'd get on with it and let me know."

They stared at each other for a very long moment, faces mirroring the same guarded expression that left little doubt of their relation. Finally Aislyn sighed more dramatically than necessary and smirked. "She told you already, didn't she?"

Lina returned the sardonic smile. "Not precisely. I deduced the answer for myself when she refused to say anything."

Aislyn shook her head, more to herself than to Lina. "Have you told His Lordship yet?" she asked blandly of her father.

"No. I promised to pretend I didn't know."

"You're a terrible actress," Aislyn said dryly.

They lapsed back into their own thoughts. Aislyn gazed out over the cold expanse of the complex, eyes tracing deserted streets she knew by heart. For a long while she felt a prickle of apprehension creep up her spine when Lina had yet to say anything more. They were Hunter-born; Lycans were their prey not their usual idea of a life-partner. She was rather expecting Lina to come up with some argument to the arrangement. Finally, she turned abruptly to her mother and said, "Well?"

"Are you happy?" Lina returned gently, a single brow arched.

"Yes," Aislyn replied without even considering the question. It was not something she needed time to mull over.

"Then that is enough." Lina smiled at her daughter with a flush of maternal warmth in her eyes. She wrapped an arm around Aislyn's shoulders and pulled her close. Aislyn leaned her head on Lina's shoulder and took a deep breath.

"I was starting to think perhaps you'd disapprove, given what he is," the younger vampress murmured.

At that, Lina chuckled softly. "Disapprove? I've been shoving you two together since you brought him back!"

"What?" Aislyn sat up and pulled away slightly to see Lina's face more clearly. The older woman was still giggling under her breath, squinting her eyes mischievously at her daughter. "How in the world could you perceive this ever happening?"

Lina tilted her head slightly, her impish grin from so many times before returning full-force. "You don't get to be the best of anything, let alone of the Hunters, without being very, very observant. You've been in love with that man since you brought him home, you just didn't know it."

Aislyn could only gape at the other vampire. How could she have seen such a thing when not even Aislyn knew at the time? Was that even possible? Lina ignored the flabbergasted look on her daughter's face and continued as if her words made complete sense.

"I could see how he looked at you when he thought no one was watching, how much he cared when you went and did something idiotic. He may be a lycan, but he is a good man. What more could a mother want for her daughter than a son-in-law that would walk through fire to protect his wife?" Lina's tone softened with her words. She gently cupped her daughter's face and brought her lips to Aislyn's forehead. "You have more than my blessing, Honey."

"What about Daddy's?" the younger vampire blurted before she could stop herself. "He's been moping around for the better part of a week and I know it has nothing to do with Christmas."

Lina rolled her eyes and sighed. "Your father is just being your father. He loves you, Aislyn, and wants you to be happy. He's just having a hard time letting go." Lina smoothed her daughter's black locks back, pushing them away from the younger woman's face. "He's assured me he likes Lucian well enough."

"Enough to be okay with this?" Aislyn pressed as Lina's hands dropped to her shoulders.

"There's certainly one way to find out." Lina jerked her chin toward the ground to indicate they should get off the roof and go inside. "I think Lucian should be present, too, however."

Aislyn looked uncertain but set her face into grim determination and nodded. She knew well that the longer she waited to tell her father, the worse his reaction would be. However, waking him up in the early morning hours would not go over very well, either. "Lucian is in a meeting with his pack to let them know and to discuss the Hunter issue that needs to be brought up at the full-moon gathering. I'm not certain how long that will last."

"That's alright. We probably shouldn't wake up the esteemed patriarch until after the sun goes down, anyway," Lina mused, echoing aloud the thoughts that had just so recently passed through Aislyn's mind. "Let your husband-" Lina smiled broadly at the term "-know the plan when he's done with his pack."

Aislyn nodded, frowning for a moment as she and Lina stood and leap off the ledge. They landed safely on the grass three stories below and the mother paused to eye her daughter's contemplative features. Lina cleared her throat lightly and widened her eyes at Aislyn in question, silently inquiring what was wrong now.

"It's that term," the younger answered. "We're not exactly married. It's different than that."

"Not really, if you think about it from their point of view," Lina replied as they made their way into the manor through one of the side doors into the kitchens. "Have a seat, I'll make tea," she offered, moving toward the stove. Aislyn slid onto a kitchen stool at the island counter top where Trina had sat not long before.

"Marriage implies a legal contract, though. Mating is more…" Aislyn made a vague gesture with her hand as if trying to find the right word.

"Spiritual, perhaps?" Lina supplied, snapping the little metal tea-strainers shut before dropping them into empty mugs to await the water in the kettle. She turned and leaned against the side of the stove while she waited for the water to heat, turning her attention to her daughter. "Marriage can be spiritual, too."

"No, that's still no quite what I mean." Aislyn rapped her knuckles on the counter top, lips pressed thin as she thought hard about what she was really trying to say. "Marriage can be broken. You and Daddy can split up any time you want for any reason you see fit. Lycan mating, though, is final. I'm bound to an unwritten and immortal contract that's deeper than a simple marriage."

"Trust me, Honey, there is nothing simple about marriage." Lina snickered at the annoyed look on Aislyn's face.

"Not what I meant," the younger woman snapped.

"I know, but can you blame me for throwing that in? You left it wide open for me." Lina smirked and turned to snag the kettle as it started to whistle violently. She deftly filled the two mugs and brought them to the counter. She slid one across the Aislyn then took a seat and sipped lightly at her own brew.

"I'm trying to have a serious, adult conversation here, Mother." Aislyn toyed with the handle of her mug, staring hard across the span of the marble at Lina.

"You take yourself too seriously sometimes, Aislyn," Lina returned, although she let her smile subside to a more somber expression. "But I understand what you're trying to get at," she continued before her daughter could make any more arguments. "All I am saying is that you shouldn't get too stuck to terminology. Your new union is not a marriage in the conventional sense, but you two have made a promise to honor each other for the rest of eternity and beyond, to stick with each other through any hardships, etcetera etcetera and so forth, as long as you both shall live, amen. Yes, your father and I could break our vows at any moment for any reason. That does not mean we ever intend to do so. When we were wed, we made a promise that we have worked very hard to stick to. Lucian may not have to work hard at it as it is his races' natural inclination to be monogamous, but _you_ will have to work at it. You don't have that instinct and but you were raised to value the idea of marriage – unlike a lot of our people – and even though there is no piece of paper legally stating that you two are what you are, this is a marriage of souls as much as mine is."

Aislyn listened intently to her mother and said nothing for quite some time, mulling over what Lina had told her as they savored the rapidly cooling herbal tea. Finally, she propped her chin on her hand, elbow on the counter top. "I suppose you're right. Lucian did say that for all intents and purposes, we could be considered married. To him and the packs, this is a marriage. I suppose the problem is that I just don't _feel_ married."

"And what does 'married' feel like?" Lina asked, hiding her smile in her mug.

"I don't know," Aislyn said hopelessly. She let her hand drop to the counter top, palm slapping the smooth marble. "Different than this."

"Enlighten your old, doddering mother?" Lina stood and moved to a cupboard, rummaging around for a moment before producing a box of Jammie Dodgers. She poured them onto a plate and brought it back for them to munch on while they chatted. It had been a long while since they had really sat down and shot the breeze; Lina was fully intending to enjoy herself.

"You're not doddering," Aislyn snorted in the back of her throat. "Anyway. I always imagined it would feel different. It would feel like something had changed or that I had somehow changed." The young woman frowned. She snatched a cookie from the plate and nibbled at the edge. "Not even my name will change with this mating. Lucian has no surname. The closest I'm going to get is 'Aislyn, Mate of the Alpha.'" She pulled a face. "It doesn't exactly flow off the tongue."

"He could take yours if you need to have someone's last name change. I've heard of it before; it's some sort of new-age idea some guys have been doing when they hate their own surname for some odd reason."

Aislyn rolled her eyes. "Weird," she muttered.

"Maybe," Lina said slowly, as she idly examined the dregs of her tea, "maybe what you're missing is not a feeling of _difference_ but a feeling of finality or actuality."

At this, Aislyn sat up a little straighter. "What do you mean?" She had an odd sense that Lina was about to hit the nail on the head and put a name to the bizarre feeling Aislyn had been having.

"What I mean, my dear," Lina continued, her eyes starting to sparkle. "Is that you have grown up in a society were sex is not a promise. Hell, even your father and I were together before we were married."

Aislyn gazed at her mother bemused. "Still not fully with you," she admitted.

"You want a wedding." Lina smiled widely.

"And now you've completely lost me," Aislyn told her, shaking her head. "Why would I want a wedding? We're mated. Mated might not be quite the same thing as being married but a wedding would be redundant."

"No, no. Stay with me for a minute. You feel as though nothing has changed because, to you, nothing _has _changed. Nothing biological or physical has happened that tells your brain, according to _your_ culture, that you are now married. According to how you were raised and how your society views sex, all you've done is found yourself a lover, not a husband."

"But it's different, it's mating-"

"To a lycan, yes. You are not a lycan," Lina interrupted, stating the obvious. "Your actions have brought you into a new culture that has a lot of different customs and views than your own, but you are still a part of your old society, too. You're going to have to find a way to merge the two. In his eyes, you are the lycan equivalent to married and he probably feels that differentness you're lacking. In your eyes, though, you won't feel any different until you've had that official ceremony that _your_ culture claims means you're married." Lina punctuated her words by tapping the counter top firmly.

Aislyn stared at Lina unabashedly. "You really think-"

"Completely."

Aislyn cleared her throat, blinking rapidly. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her mother's words were starting to make sense. She shot Lina a suspicious glare. "You just want to plan a wedding."

"What mother doesn't? It's not like I have another chance." Lina smirked back.

"This is ridiculous." Aislyn stood then and dusted biscuit crumbs from her fingers. "We have to go to the full-moon gathering tomorrow. I'm not going to plan a wedding when I'm officially mated. Like I've said, it's redundant. We have more pressing issues than weddings anyway. I'm sure in the next few days I'll start feeling more like I'm actually married."

Lina tried her best to not look disappointed but shrugged. "Suit yourself, Honey. I'll probably be in my office near sundown if you'd like me to help you break the news to your father."

Aislyn let the tension leave her shoulders and reached across the table to cover her mother's hand with her own. "Thanks for the talk, Mom," she murmured. "Does it mean that much to you if I were to have an actual wedding?"

Lina's eyebrows rose fractionally. "Why would it mean that much to me? I'm not the one getting married."

Aislyn was not fooled by her mother's falsely innocent expression and squeezed Lina's hand. "I'll talk to Lucian." The younger woman turned and left the kitchen through the door that led into the living room area.

Lina sat at the counter, fingering a cookie for a long moment, eyes settled on the door Aislyn had vanished through. A small, barely discernable smile was flittering through her eyes. "May would be a good month… the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom by then…"

* * *

The later it became, the more frustrated Aislyn found herself getting. It seemed like fate was trying its damnedest to keep her and her new husband as separated as possible. The meeting of the lycans had taken them all the way into lunch and, although she had poked her head in a number of times to check on them, they all reassured her that there was nothing she needed to stick around for if she had more pressing issues to deal with.

So instead of dwelling on how long they were taking in their own business, Aislyn occupied herself with a sprawl of maps and diagrams of the greater (and lesser) areas of London. She spent a number of hours pouring over the dots the represented Doll sightings and attacks, attempting to put some logical sequence to them. Somewhere in the back of her mind she suspected their occurrences were not just a random series of events but that there was order to when and where they showed up. She felt that if she could crack the code then perhaps they could start predicting the next location. It was, perhaps, a bit far-fetched but it did the job of eating away her time while she awaited the pack meeting to adjourn.

Just when she thought she had made a little headway, her phone – she had transferred her number to one of her mother's old ones since her own was deemed unsalvageable - rang and broke her concentration. Cursing, she threw down her pencil and flipped the device open. "What?" she snapped more harshly than she had intended. She felt immediately contrite about it but did not apologize as the person on the other end did not give her the chance to say anything else.

"I need your help," Darlene's equally cranky voice snipped back. It was her usual way, though, so Aislyn thought nothing of it. Instead, she inquired what was going on that needed her attention.

"I have a situation here that may need an extra set of _competent_ healing hands," the old woman said dourly. "I swear half my coven has heads full of fluff. Are you busy with something or can I borrow you for a couple hours?"

"I'm not going to get anything more specific out of you than that, am I?" Aislyn asked almost rhetorically. Darlene merely grunted and the vampire sighed. "I've lost my gloves but I'm sure if I borrow Daddy's while he's asleep he won't mind. Where are you?" Aislyn glanced up as Lucian entered. He started to speak but she held up a hand, snagged a piece of paper, and jotted down the address Darlene was giving her. "I'll be there in about half an hour." She hung up, stood from the table she occupied, and pocketed her cell.

"Something important?" Lucian asked as he moved to pull her close. She leaned against him in warm greeting for a moment before pulling back and giving him a slightly lopsided smirk.

"Darlene needs a healer who isn't a half-wit. I'm going to go help her out for a couple hours. I should be back before nightfall."

The briefest of frowns flickered across the lycan's face but he knew that if her skills were needed then she should go. He had just been hoping they could have a little alone time before they became stuck underground for the next day or two with an entire community of werewolves. He pressed his lips to her forehead and let her slip from the room. It looked as though he would have to find something else to do until that evening.

* * *

Lucian checked the clock on the wall then peered out the windows of their sitting room to see a large, yellow-white moon peeking over the tops of the complex houses. Aislyn still had not returned. He had tried calling her phone half an hour ago but she did not pick up. Whatever medical emergency was happening, it must be more serious than he originally gleaned from Aislyn's tone.

Sighing, he finally left the rooms and glanced around the hallway. His mind was idle and he needed something to do to keep him from worrying about her. She was fine, he kept telling himself. If something had happened, she would have called.

The lycan-king stood undecided in the hallway as he considered his next move. He had thought it would come to him the moment he stepped out but that was obviously not the case. As he pondered, he caught a scent that put a thought into his mind. There was the distinct aroma of burning candles, old books, and fresh blood.

Each person had their own, unique smell. Usually it was too subtle for human noses to pick up but a lycan had a much superior sense of smell. Just like how Aislyn smelled of green apples and cinnamon, every member of the coven could be identified by their mixture of scents.

Lucian sniffed again and turned left down the hallway, following the traces of where Vlad had walked so recently. He remembered quite distinctly that they had an unfinished conversation hanging over their heads that the lycan wanted to complete. Plus, Lucian had a few other things he needed to discuss with the Lord that he felt he should probably do without Aislyn around.

The lingering trace that screamed Vlad led the lycan up the stairs on the far end of the house to the third story: the mostly unused junk floor. Near the back of the house, the scent disappeared behind a closed door. Lucian knocked gently but there was no reply. Steeling himself, he pushed open the door, letting it close behind him with a soft, almost inaudible click.

It took a moment for Lucian's eyes to adjust to the dim light of the attic-esque room he had stepped into. The drapes had been drawn across the window so no moonlight shone into the small, rectangular room. A single, naked bulb hung from a cord in the ceiling, illuminating clearing only the objects that sat directly underneath it. A human would have been mostly blind. A lycan, or a vampire, however, was able to use that small amount of light to see the entirety of the chamber without much difficulty.

Lucian took a moment to look around the room, trying to see where Vlad was hiding himself. The vampire Lord was not in sight but the scent of him was strong enough that Lucian had little doubt that he was no alone in the room. Instead of making that known, however, the lycan gazed at the artifacts in the room with a growing curiosity. It looked to be jammed full of objects that would have belonged to a child.

Taking a few more steps in, Lucian ran his hand along the railing of a mahogany crib and reached into it to pluck out a teddy bear whose ears had obviously been lovingly gnawed upon. It was missing one eye and there was a rip along the back. He put it back down and poked at the mobile consisting of pink unicorns and baby dragons, smiling despite himself. His eyes fell on a nearby rocking horse that was missing half of its yarn mane, a stuffed lion plushy that was almost as tall as he was, and a shelf of picture books. There were old cardboard boxes that had been written on in a fat, black marker: 0-3 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months, all the way up to 3 years.

He nearly tripped over a wooden train when he had been too busy looking at an ornate toy chest shoved against a wall. He nudged it out of his path with a boot before pausing at a box labeled simply "Aislyn." He glanced around again, still not seeing the master of the house, before prying open the top of the box and peeking inside.

The box was filled with what looked like kindergarten art work. There were crayon drawings of a house and vague stick-figures. In an adult's penmanship – probably Lina's - they had been labeled 'Mommy, Daddy, and Me' with arrows pointing to the very similar representations of her family. There were crate-paper flowers, construction paper mosaics that had obviously been made with too much glue, and paintings made with pressed leaves. Lucian forgot himself as he sat down next to the box and starting pulling out objects as if they were precious treasure.

The further into the box he got, the older the creator seemed to get. The drawings of people took on a more substantial air and he nearly laughed when she starting putting the shape of breasts on women to show they were girls. He saw her early attempts at handwriting turn into a flowing cursive that was later forgotten as she started to print everything. There were campy poems about love, some odd abstract sketches, and finally, at the very bottom, a book. He thumbed it open and smiled softly. It was a diary and, by the dates, it was of her teenaged years.

"She very nearly didn't make it," a soft voice interrupted his musings. Lucian dropped the diary as if burned and glanced around the room with wide, searching eyes. There, in a corner, was a dark figure sitting on a discarded wicker-backed rocking chair. Vlad's form slowly materialized from the shadow he had been skulking in until he was as clear in the lycan's eyes as the rest of the room's contents were. "How did you find me?"

Carefully, with obvious reverence for objects from the past, Lucian placed everything back in the box with the exception of the diary. He placed that on the shelf of picture books before taking a seat on the toy chest. "I could smell you," he replied honestly. Although he did not know why Vlad would assume he was looking for him, Lucian decided it wasn't really important and let it go. Then, as Vlad nodded his understanding, Lucian continued. "What do you mean, she nearly didn't make it?"

"Aislyn." Vlad nodded at the box of mementos that sat between him and the lycan. "She was three months premature, came out breech. The birthing nearly killed Lina and no one expected Aislyn to live past the first week of her life. She was so tiny… I could hold her in one hand." He looked down at his palm, expression very far away for a moment.

Lucian wasn't sure what to say but it wouldn't have mattered. Apparently Vlad wasn't done anyway. "We couldn't take her to the hospital. There would have been too many questions asked. We are not exactly an inconspicuous breed." Vlad smirked at that and Lucian mirrored the expression in appreciation. The smile soon faded from the vampire's features though and he sighed deeply. "I still don't fully understand how she managed to hang on to life; she was so weak. I had to bottle feed her milk mixed with blood when Lina lost hers to infection.

Vlad looked up and caught Lucian's eyes, holding them fast. "The entire pregnancy had been difficult and the birthing cemented in our minds that Lina should not have any more children. It was too risky to both her life and the life of any future babies. I hope you can understand now why Aislyn means so much to me. Her very existence is a miracle."

Lucian refused to look away from the intense gaze of the vampire, hardening his resolve to not give in to this man. They had managed a decent working relationship in the past three months and a sense of mutual respect had started to form in the last day since they had gone to Saint Grace's. That did not mean they were done pitting their wills, however, and Lucian was determined to prove he was just as commanding.

"I think you're well aware that I would protect her with my life as well as the lives of the entire pack if it came to that," the lycan informed Vlad firmly.

Vlad tilted his head to one side in that Aislyn-esque gesture she must have gotten from him as he regarded the wolf. He stood, setting aside a shoe box that had been sitting on his lap. Lucian briefly wondered what was in it but did not have the chance to explore that thought as the vampire held a hand out toward the door. "Walk with me?" Vlad asked politely.

Lucian stood and followed the other man from the room and into the hallway. Vlad led them through the third floor to the stairway that led down to the second, then along the hallways of the middle level. With hardly a pause, the vampire unlocked and pushed open the door to his and Lina's personal quarters.

"Please, come in," Vlad murmured when Lucian hesitated on the threshold.

Feeling terribly out of place, Lucian moved through the doorway and heard it click behind him ominously. As nerve-wrecking as this situation was becoming, Lucian forced himself to take stock of his surroundings and relax. He truly doubted that Vlad was going to do him any harm but he still did not feel comfortable alone with him in Vlad's own rooms. Lucian was naturally wary of vampire-fathers after his association with Viktor.

"I have been hearing some rumors murmured through the hallways," Vlad was saying. He had moved over to a cupboard and was rummaging around inside it. Lucian heard the distinct clink of glass being knocked lightly together. Vlad made a slight 'a-hah' noise and pulled something out from the back shelf: a bottle of amber colored liquid. The lord set it aside on a nearby table and opened a different cupboard, pulling out two glasses. He filled them with ice from a fridge that had been well camouflaged, built into the wall itself. Then, with a sigh, he popped the top of the bottle and poured both glasses full.

He offered one to Lucian, who took it politely. Although the lycan did not intend to drink much since the events of the Wake, he could hardly refuse the father of his mate if he was offering something that was obviously valuable. He was pretty sure he had seen 1922 scrawled on the thin paper label and one did not get a taste of nearly eighty-year-old scotch every day.

"What are these rumors saying?" Lucian asked after taking a sip of the fiery liquid. He could feel it burn down the length of this throat and settle with a warm glow in his stomach. Vlad merely sent Lucian rather bland look.

"We are not young men," Vlad murmured. "We have both seen enough of this world to not have to bother with preamble or the irritating dance of social niceties. I really would like to hear the truth without having to fish for it. It is my understanding that my daughter is now considered your mate?"

Lucian held Vlad's stare evenly and nodded once to confirm the rumors. This wasn't entirely how he had intended to go about telling the lord of the house but it was better to get it out in the open anyway. "I have need of discussing a few things with you regarding that, actually." He wanted to be able to say it in just the right way and needed to set it up. He was inwardly grateful that Vlad had brought the topic up in the first place, saving the lycan from having to steer the conversation in that direction. "It is the reason I hunted you down in the first place."

"Do go on," Vlad encouraged, finding a seat on an arm chair near the empty fireplace. Lucian planted himself in another recliner but did not feel much like sitting back.

"I wanted to officially ask you for Aislyn's hand," Lucian replied bluntly.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. "Is that entirely necessary given what has occurred? I have been led to understand that your acts are a binding contract as they are."

"I believe it is," Lucian returned. The lycan sighed and took another sip of the scotch. "To my people, it is already official, but not to yours. As much as I would like for this to be it – I hate pomp and circumstance as much as I'm sure you do - something tells me Aislyn won't be quite satisfied without being allowed to follow her own customs regarding us being us." Lucian was unaware of the conversation Aislyn and Lina had had in the kitchen that morning, having only seen his wife once since Raze and Trina had interrupted them. He was not an uneducated or inconsiderate man, though, and was wise enough to know the social differences between their respective cultures. There had been a considerable number of hours between the end of the meeting and now in which Lucian had pondered the implications mating had for vampires. If the members of this coven were going to recognize their union, it would have to be done their way as well as the lycan way.

Lucian watched Vlad unobtrusively as he finished his drink. He wasn't entirely certain, but Vlad possibly looked pleased. The older man stood, setting his glass on a side table, and disappeared into an adjoining room without a word. Lucian briefly wondered if he, too, should stand, when Vlad returned holding something in his hand.

It was a small, silken bag no larger than a tea-strainer. There was a very slight bulge in it that indicated it was not empty. Vlad turned it out into the palm of his other hand and Lucian stood to get a better look at the object the vampire had just retrieved.

"This," Vlad said slowly, as if considering his words, "belonged to my grandmother. It is from her that I truly inherited my powers and, subsequently, so did Aislyn. My daughter has always ogled it and I think it would mean a great deal if you considered it for your purpose."

Lucian held his hand out and Vlad deposited the object into the lycan's palm for him to inspect. It was what first appeared to be a simple gold ring. As Lucian fingered it, however, the complexity of the band became more obvious. It had been made from five separate wires of gold, woven together in an intricate patter than was not at first discernable. For the age that this piece must have been crafted, the goldsmith would have to have been incredibly skilled. It was slim and lightweight, too, not thick and coarse. Lucian was duly impressed and turned it in the artificial light, watching it shine between his fingers. He had seen many expensive trinkets in his life from that era and this one was up there on the list of the best.

He glanced over at Vlad but the man had returned to the liquor cabinet and was refilling both their glasses. Lucian saw the silk bag on the coffee table and replaced the ring before slipping it into the pocket of his trousers. This was an obvious sign of approval if Vlad had supplied a family heirloom for a wedding ring and Lucian suddenly felt a lot lighter for it. He had not realized how heavily this scenario had been weighing on him until it was done and over with. He sighed inwardly with relief and sat back down as Vlad returned with the drinks.

"I was wondering if you had some time to further discuss what we were talking about in the car yesterday evening." Lucian swirled his drink slightly, listening to the ice tink around the glass.

Vlad glanced at the clock and nodded. "My Nightingale has yet to charge in, hollering about this and that, so it would appear I am off the hook for now, sort to speak. You were smart not to choose an American girl. They are a terribly loud bunch."

Lucian let the corners of his mouth twitch upward at the quip. "Aislyn's temper does rival her mother's though." Vlad nodded thoughtfully and Lucian pondered how exactly to ask the proper question for the information he wanted and steer the conversation back to the biological. "Speaking of genetics," he started, "when last we spoke you were starting to tell me more about how it is that your vampirism is passed along."

"Ah, yes." Vlad tapped his glass against his top incisors, peering up at the ceiling while he gathered his thoughts. "Let me think here where we were last."

"Perhaps an outlining of what I already know?" Lucian ventured helpfully.

"That sounds reasonable." Vlad set his drink down, steepled his fingers, and leaned forward slightly. "What we refer to as Viral Vampirism is, like lycanism, transmitted through the saliva when one species bites another, be it human or otherwise." Lucian nodded absently; that was common knowledge in their underworld. "If I'm not mistaken, Aislyn has bitten you at least once to use your blood for tracking? She told me of how your group found your brother."

"That's correct," Lucian confirmed. "She had told me before that your kind do not change through bite so her biting me would not pose a threat."

"She told you, if I remember correctly, that our type is based more on the magical." Vlad paused and looked at the lycan expectantly.

"She was reluctant to refer to it as such, but yes."

"She was right to be reluctant because it is not entirely magical. After all, if it were a matter of magic, she would not have been born a vampire but would have needed to be turned. But she wasn't turned, she was born. What does that tell you about our kind?"

"It is genetically inherited, carried in the genome," Lucian hazarded. "If that is the case, how could anyone be turned?"

"How is it that Virals are born Virals?" Vlad returned.

Lucian had once sat in on a few university lectures when he had first started to formulate the idea of isolating the viruses and blending the species. There was only so much book learning could do and, when he had needed a scientist, he went in search of one. It was how he eventually found Singe. Sitting now with Vlad was starting to strongly remind him of listening to the professors attempt to weasel the correct answer out of half-baffled students.

"The virus is transmitted in-utero, though shared tissues and fluids."

"As far as our understanding, yes. What do you suppose would happen if the mother were human?" Vlad mused next.

Lucian opened his mouth to answer and then clamped it shut as the question floated between them. It was a valid query but not something any of them had ever considered. No one from either species had ever considered a human as a possible lover. Humans were basically the food source or a means to increase their own numbers.

"That is neither here nor there," Vlad finally said dismissively, waving a hand around in front of him as if banishing the question. "Perhaps later, if you're so inclined to indulge my science projects, we can look into that together?"

Lucian was momentarily startled by the invitation and his intellectual side jumped at the opportunity. "I wasn't aware you were a scientist," he told the other man. "I think I would enjoy a new biological study."

The two men eyed each other for another moment, both silently pleased they had found a new colleague in the quest for biological discovery. It would seem their respective spouses were correct in thinking the two of them just needed to get to know one another better and they would find a common ground.

"So Virals – both lycan and vampire – can be born via the amniotic fluids carrying the virus and non-virals can be turned by the virus carried in the saliva. This we know," Lucian summarized. "Your non-Viral kind can be born via the genome that carries the trait. That brings us back to how you are able to turn humans into vampires and how it is that Marcus contracted Viralism from you at all."

"That is where the true secret lies," Vlad replied.

Lucian frowned. Secret implied that he was not going to get any answers but Vlad had indicated he would explain the difference. He waited with hidden impatience for the vampire lord to get on with it.

"I carry in my genes a mutation. I have yet to be able to fully isolate which chromosome it sits on but I am very close." Vlad eyes were suddenly lit with excitement. "Another project perhaps you could help me with in the future as you have some experience in the field. But-" Vlad cut off Lucian as the lycan opened his mouth. "The mutation affects most aspects of my entire physiology and biology. It is in the cells of my skin, it is in the cells of my organs, it is in my very _blood_."

The vampire suddenly jumped to his feet and the hair on the back of Lucian's neck stood on end at the rapid movement. He forced himself to relax as he realized that Vlad was merely getting excited over the biology behind the phenomena. Lucian reflected, rather ironically, that he had met a kindred spirit in his new father-in-law and he wondered if his isolation of the virus would have gone a lot faster if he had met Vlad fifty years ago.

"I think this next part is best explained downstairs. Come!" Still exuding excitement that the lycan was obviously following the conversation perfectly and that he had found a willing lab partner for down the road, Vlad moved rapidly from the room. Lucian scrambled out of his seat and had to half-jog to keep up as the taller man was already halfway down the stairwell. They were oblivious to the quizzical looks from both vampire and lycan as the odd pair hurried under the walkway and vanished into one of Vlad's personal and out-of-bounds rooms.

Lucian took a brief second to glance around at the oak paneled, oak floored, red-draperied office they stood in. It looked like any standard, tidy, boring office. Lucian raised his eyebrows at the square of floor that suddenly sunk and slid away when Vlad tinkered with something on the desk. He held his tongue when a comment about how clique it was bubbled to his lips. Instead, he followed the older man obediently down the revealed stone stairway into a basement that had not been mentioned before.

The lights flickered to life as they reached the tiled floor at the bottom of the steps. Lucian blinked in the bright, florescent lighting, gaping at the facility around him. It was at least the size of the living room it was situated below. Three rows of island counter tops ran the length of the middle, fume hoods positioned down the length of each. Sinks dotted the counters next to valved spigots. Glass-fronted cabinets lined the outer walls, positioned above more counter tops. Behind the panes, Lucian could see hundreds of glass beakers, flasks, test tubes, graduated cylinders, and the various apparatus involved in finagling them all together. There were more doors situated periodically along the walls, leading into storage rooms and other chambers.

"If I had access to such a facility, it would not have taken me fifty years to isolate the virus," Lucian breathed, stepping further into the laboratory.

Vlad's face was set in smug satisfaction as he gazed around his lab. "It has taken me longer than that to unravel my DNA and I've yet to complete it. That is for another trip here, though. I have brought you here to better demonstrate an answer to your question. Over here, if you please."

The vampire moved through the laboratory to a station of microscopes on the far side. He pulled the protective cover off the first one he reached, plugged it in, and started rummaging around the drawers for something Lucian could not see. After a moment he made a little 'a-hah' noise and pulled out a box of fresh slides and some cover slips. Without a backward look at Lucian, Vlad set them on the counter and hurried off into one of adjacent rooms. Lucian could hear the sound of a refrigerator open and shut, and then Vlad returned carrying a vile of a deep red Lucian knew instantly as blood.

"Now," Vlad started, setting the tube in a rack made just for that purpose and placing that rack next to the microscope. "You are familiar, I am sure, with human blood." The vampire smirked at his own joke before unstopping the vial and dipping a pipette into it. He placed a drop on a slide, covered it with a slip, and slid it into the microscope platform. "There is an anticoagulant in here but otherwise this is pure, untainted human blood."

Lucian bent his eyes to the microscope, fiddling with knobs until the blood sells came into clear focus. He nodded then looked up to watch Vlad take a sharp knife and pick his thumb. The lord let a drop fall onto another slide, covered it with a small, square glass slide clover, and handed it to Lucian. The lycan switched the slides and bent to the eyepieces again.

He could tell a marked difference in the red blood cells immediately and frowned. "They're nucleated." He straightened. "How can that be?"

"That I have yet to determine fully. Now, watch when I mix my blood with the human blood." He passed Lucian the third slide and the younger man turned his eyes back to the scope obligingly.

"Nothing is happening," Lucian spoke after a moment of watching the two different blood cells sit passively on the slide, ignoring one another.

"Precisely. And nothing will. My blood is not infectious in itself, just genetically mutated from the norm. However," Vlad said, his tone taking on a decidedly excited tone that Lucian suspected was barely contained, "watch."

The edges of Lucian's mouth were downturned in thought but his curiosity was peaked and he went willing back to the microscope. Beside him, Vlad was muttering something under his breath, tracing lines in the air near the microscope. There was a brief flash of white light from Vlad's direction then the most peculiar thing occurred before Lucian's eyes. Vlad's cells starting moving.

Like particulate matter experiencing Brownian motion, Vlad's cells jitterbugged their way amongst the human cells. In what could very well be akin to Pac-Man, the mutated blood cells opened up and devoured the normal blood and spat out a nucleated copy. Within seconds, the entire slide was indiscernible from the one of just Vlad's blood. Lucian straightened rapidly and stared at the vampire.

"What the hell just happened?" he asked sharply. In his years of following biological breakthroughs, he had never seen anything quite so bizarre.

"When given the proper stimulus, my blood becomes carcinogenic."

Lucian glanced back into the microscope, sheer will keeping his jaw firmly shut. "The magic Aislyn spoke of?"

"Yes. Although it was not quite so developed back when I was young, I have since been able to pin point the exact spell needed to create a metastasis within my own blood that will pass into the blood stream of a human, effectively mutating their very genetic make-up along with all the cells within their body. Only myself and my son have the knowledge and the magical ability to pull it off. Aislyn is capable but she has never asked me for the secret. I do not think she wants to know."

"No one else knows the magic?" Lucian murmured.

"No one living," Vlad amended, his expression far away for a minute before he shook himself and smiled wanly at the lycan. "Our family has many shadows of the past that will bring themselves to light now that you are part of it. I am sure you have heard some history of my rule?"

Lucian thought instantly of the book Aislyn had given him for Christmas and nodded. He had not had much opportunity to go through it but he had read the first chapter, which dealt mainly with the history of Vlad's reign.

"I have been wed three times. The first foolishly threw herself out a window before I had figured out how to transmit my immortality but considering she would commit such an act probably saved the world from her idiocy. The second, Ilona, was a much brighter – and witch-born – consort."

"The first one turned," Lucian murmured, rubbing his chin lightly through his beard.

"Yes. She was Nagire's mother, as well as the mother of two sons that were not turned." Vlad's lips thinned slightly. He did not elaborate but Lucian had read how those two refused the offer of immortality, denouncing their father for his ways and basically estranging themselves from him when he fled to England. The lord had lived a troubled and dark life; Lucian was not inclined to pry into the more intimate details. "Ilona knew the secret and helped me to create our empire here before she died."

Lucian raised a brow fractionally at that. He had yet to read that far, although his manners did not out rule his curiosity. He refrained from asking but his question must have been plain on his face as Vlad chose to elaborate without being otherwise prompted.

"She was burned as a witch, ironically enough, in the seventeen-hundreds. Her power was not great but her heart was kind. She had tried to save a town stricken with pox and they burned her for a witch." Vlad capped the vial of blood and moved back into the adjoining room to replace it in the fridge while Lucian let that information sink into his memory.

"Human nature is to fear the unknown and strike out at it, even if it is detrimental to their own well-being," Vlad continued as he returned to the lab. Quickly, he cleaned up and unplugged the microscope, then led Lucian from the underground room back into the office.

In an attempt to steer the conversation back on track and away from the demons of the past, Lucian cleared his throat. "What about Marcus? The spell only explains the activation of a cancer-like effect, not a virus."

"True, but it is in that spell that our answer lies." The vampire sighed and went to the windows, quickly drawing the draperies closed to block out the world. Once the office had been effectively made private, Vlad raised a finger and started tracing lines in the air. The symbols scrawled beautifully across the open space glittered pale blue and Lucian was certain he recognized a few from things Aislyn had etched before. Below the first set, Vlad started a new grouping, this time in red.

"The color of the spell can indicate its purpose," Vlad intoned once the symbols were in place. "These spells are innocuous without the pentagrams to empower them, but the symbols are correct. Tell me, what do you see between these?"

Lucian surveyed the gibberish closely, picking out patterns and finding connections to the best of his ability. Finally, he pointed to a set of symbols in the red grouping with one hand, and a set in the blue with his other. "These parts are identical but I do not know what that implies."

"The blue spell is the one used to activate the mutagen in my blood that can transform a human into a vampire. The red spell," Vlad smirked crookedly, "is the one that transforms me into a bat."

An inkling of what Vlad was getting at started to pick away at the edge of Lucian's mind. He started to speak but closed his mouth, frowned, and crossed his arms. He hadn't fully formed the thought and did not want to blurt it out before he knew what he was saying. Vlad saved him from having to dwell on it too long.

"The night I fed on Marcus, as a bat I had fed on one other beast first: a buck. That buck, angered by the fact that I was trying to bite it, managed to detach me by way of smacking me against a tree. The impact broke one of my teeth."

"When you bit Marcus, some of your blood mingled with his," Lucian said when Vlad paused. The vampire smiled almost eagerly and inclined his head to indicate the lycan was correct. When the elder did not continue, Lucian took it as Vlad inviting him to hypothesize. Scientific minds did enjoy the company of other scientific minds and Lucian was struck with the feeling that Vlad did not often get to have this type of conversation with those around him. He must have been itching for this the same way Lucian had craved any intelligent companionship when the lycan had been holed up in Hungary.

Lucian paced across the floor, fingers tugging unconsciously on the short hair of his beard as he thought. "The similarities in the spell must be the part that actually catalyzes the reaction between your blood and that of a human. The question would then stand why is it that it reacted virally and not as a carcinogen." He paused and eyed Vlad. "You know why."

"I have a theory that I have not yet been able to test. However, with a Viral in residence, one only twice removed from the original strain, and a direct descendant of Corvinus, I may be able to fully ascertain why. Even with Selene's peculiar inheritance of the Corvinus strain through Alexander's blood, we may be able to isolate my original carcinogenic component from the Viral aspect."

Vlad had worked himself up into quite a fit and was starting to get a mad gleam in his eye that Lucian found rather disconcerting. He was as fascinated by the prospect as the other man was, but Lucian seemed to have a much better grip on his self control. He cleared his throat almost self consciously and Vlad snapped back into reality as if he had never left.

"My theory," he continued as if the tangent hadn't existed, "is that something in the Corvinus blood, whatever virus he carried that made him immortal and that he passed to his sons, reacted with my mutated blood cells. My activated blood spread through Marcus, devouring his cells and creating clones of themselves, mutating the way I showed you downstairs. Somehow, and this is where I'm merely guessing, the Corvinus virus attached to the vampiric cells and created a virally transmittable version of vampirism."

As the room fell into silence, Vlad brushed aside the spells and they vanished in tiny wisps. Lucian was left with his thoughts while he absorbed and categorized all the information Vlad had just divulged. "Why tell me all this?" Lucian finally asked. "Just because I asked does not mean you are under any obligation to enlighten me."

Vlad studied Lucian, his red eyes half closed. "You're family now," he replied simply. "I may not tell you many things, but I see no danger in telling you this. You are a man of intellect and I think we share a passion of discovering our roots. If you wish to join me in my quest for knowledge, it would be best if you were up to speed on the research."

"Well, I thank you for being so willing to share your work," Lucian replied amiably. "Maybe once I return from this damn meeting we can convince Selene and Michael to share some of their blood for the good of science."

"Ah, yes, your Gathering." Vlad nodded thoughtfully. "I need to make Aislyn a new pair of gloves before you leave. Mine are much too big for her and can potentially slow her down with their cumbersome size."

"I will leave you to it, then." Lucian excused himself and left through the door they had entered through, his mind whirring with new thoughts and ideas. He checked his watch, wondered again where Aislyn was, then made his way up the stairs to their chambers to think things through more thoroughly.

As he pushed open the door to the bedroom, however, all thoughts of genetic mutations and viral transmittance fled his brain to be replaced with a vague, fuzzy happiness. Aislyn was half naked and rapidly removing more clothing as he watched. She glanced up at him, smiled apologetically, and dropped her father's gloves onto the nightstand.

"That was a pain in the arse," she announced. "I'm sorry I'm so late."

Lucian pulled her close and inhaled her scent, nose pressed into her hair. "Don't be. It gave me the opportunity to spend some quality time with Vlad."

Aislyn pushed him back slightly and raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Oh?"

"You never told me that there was a laboratory right under my feet."

"My father showed you his _lab_?" Aislyn asked incredulously. "For all the posturing you two have been doing, he must actually like you. No one goes down there. My mother doesn't even get invites into the lab!"

Lucian raised his own brows at that. "Certainly you're joking."

Aislyn patted his cheek gently. "My mother and laboratory equipment have a very bad relationship. She can break a beaker with a single look. But still, I'm glad you two are getting on. It will be easier to tell him about us if he's taking a shine to you."

Lucian tried very hard not to look guilty. "About that…"

* * *

The smell of wolf was overpowering, as it had been the first time she had stepped foot in Adrian's den. Now, however, her senses were on an even higher level of alert given what she would have to face the moment they stepped through that door into the meeting chamber beyond. Currently, it was all she could do to stand amongst the small, Hungarian pack and not fidget.

Aislyn gazed around the empty commons to try and distract herself while Lucian spoke in quite tones to his officers. She stood slightly off to one side, attempting to compose herself and prepare for the objections and challenges she was pretty sure would come her way when the other packs fully recognized what had occurred. The young woman had just decided to inspect the small, snoring lapdog in its niche when a figure moved somewhat nervously into her periphery. She glanced up and tried her best to give Michael a reassuring smile. By the drained look on his face, he was about as jittery as she was.

"You didn't have to come," she said softly, using Hungarian for his benefit as he glanced around the high-arched commons. "You still don't have to, we haven't gone in yet."

The hybrid shook his head slightly and tried his best to smile back at her. His expression looked more pained than brave and Aislyn patted his arm in her best attempt at support. "Lucian turned me first," Michael tried to explain. Aislyn supposed he felt the need to justify why he had chosen to accompany them. Selene, smartly, had stayed back at the manor at the urging of both Lucian and Aislyn. There would be enough excitement between Aislyn's queenship, Trina's adoption into the highest ranked pack, and Michael's very existence, without throwing in that the hybrid was also mated to an ex-Death Dealer of Viktor's creation. "I feel like I belong with these men more than with your people or Selene's."

Aislyn nodded her understanding. "Just be ready for the shit to hit the fan. This gathering is not going to be very fun," the woman replied grimly, folding her arms across her middle.

"Compared to what Selene and I have been through, I don't have much reason to be afraid of these lycans."

Aislyn raised her brows at him, smirking a bit. "Then why do you look like you just swallowed a goldfish?"

"So I am a little bit nervous." Michael laughed slightly in the back of his throat. "But at least I do have _your_ scandal to hide behind."

Aislyn shook her head at him, rolling her eyes. "I think the hardest part is waiting to get it over with."

"Then we shall have to remedy that," Lucian cut in, moving up to the pair. He glanced over his shoulder at the door into the meeting chamber. "We'd best get ourselves in there before they come looking for us and ruin my perfectly planned entrance."

With Lucian in the lead, the rest of the pack shuffled themselves into place behind him as he took a firm grasp on the handle of the meeting chamber's large door. Aislyn, half a step behind and to one side, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and followed him into the wall of sound that greeted the pack as the door swung open.

The walk toward the make-shift throne took an agonizingly long time to the small group of men and two women. Silence followed them like a tiger, the collective hush waiting to spring at any moment. Aislyn kept her eyes glued on the empty chair where Lucian was expected to conduct the opening announcements for the meeting and, if he so chose, sit for the duration. She refused to give into the tingling sensation running along her spine that was urging her to look at the lycans surrounding them.

"And what the _fuck_ is this?"

They had reached the far end of the room and, unsurprisingly, Adrian had moved to intercept them. Lucian's expression remained bland as he watched his brother through half-lidded eyes. "You're in the way," the elder wolf intoned then took another step toward the elaborate chair.

"The hell I am," Adrian snarled. "What the fuck is this?" He pointed an elongated fingernail directly into Aislyn's face. Although she narrowed her eyes, the woman held her tongue. She needed to let Lucian handle this until a direct challenge was issued or she could lose face for her position. She may have had a degree of power over them as Queen, but the social hierarchy of the clan dictated that, as the mate of an alpha, she still had to defer to him. It took a considerable amount of willpower not to snap that finger off and shove it up Adrian's nose, however.

"I do believe that is considered a woman," Lucian replied calmly, folding his arms with an obvious air of impatience. "Considering that you have grandchildren, I had assumed that you knew the difference between the sexes."

Adrian bristled visibly. "That is not what I meant," he spat, glaring at Aislyn with unguarded hostility.

"Then enlighten me, Brother, as to your true motives. And I ask that you spit it out now so we can get on with this meeting. There is much to cover and only a day to do it."

The younger of the elder lycans struggled with himself for a moment as if trying to figure out how to say what he desperately wanted to say. Lucian started to shift impatiently. Adrian leaned in slightly, jabbed his finger at Aislyn once more, and spoke in an undertone that was meant only for those in the most immediate vicinity. The lycans crowding the edges of the room murmured amongst themselves, guessing the direction the conversation was taken when they could not hear Adrian's words.

"This is a mockery of our packs and our ways," Adrian hissed to his brother. "The last time you were this foolish, our entire race was plunged into war!"

"You speak as through you have any authority on that war," Lucian scoffed back, his own volume lowered to keep the argument between them. "If my memory serves me correctly, you stuck around just long enough to raid Viktor's castle, then ran north with your tail between your legs."

"But at least I kept my dick in the right species," Adrian snarled. Aislyn's knuckles popped nearby but she held her tongue. The corner of Lucian's eye twitched ever so slightly but Adrian did not seem to notice as he plunged on. "Not once but twice you have defiled yourself and then dare to bring that in front of our faces. You may be King now but I will not be ruled by a man who chooses a blood-sucker over his own kind."

"Oh because you were so compliant with my rule before I took a mate." Lucian bared his teeth slightly and moved again to brush past Adrian. "Go back to your place, Adrian. I tire of your pettiness."

The larger wolf shifted as Lucian did, effectively preventing the king from passing. The murmuring of the crowds grew more intense at the sight of the former king waylaying the current one. "I am not finished," Adrian pressed. "This is an abomination of our ways." For the third time, that long, irritating fingernail was pointed in Aislyn's face. Adrian raised his voice as he continued, "And I, for one, am not going to stand here and let it happen!"

If Adrian intended to say anything else, it never made it out of his mouth. In that split second when his hand pointed at the vampire and he made it known to the room that he was against the whole situation, Aislyn moved. She had been told, after all, that should anyone actually make any challenging move or comment in her direction, she was within her right to defend herself. As far as she was concerned, Adrian had uttered just that challenge and she was getting really tired of being pointed at so rudely.

There was a series of bone-crunching cracks as Aislyn snagged Adrian's finger and snapped it with a twist, then jerked his wrist into a sprain, pulled his arm straight, and slammed her forearm against the back of his overextended elbow. The lycan screamed as he fell to his knees, broken arm still clutched tightly in Aislyn's hand. She placed a boot flat to his shoulder and wrenched, effectively popping the entire limb from its socket. Kicking out, she sent him sprawling to the ground. The gathered packs watched in stunned silence as the former king slid a few feet away from the vampire.

Adrian drew his knees up under him, forehead pressed to the stone floor as he gasped in pain. He cradled his damaged arm gingerly as his shattered elbow made feeble attempts to heal itself. Aislyn moved from her place next to Lucian, stalking over to where Adrian knelt. When she reached him, she nudged his ribs with the toe of her boot none-too-gently, eliciting a grunt from the wolf.

"For future reference," she sneered down at him, voice carrying over the quiet crowd, "I do not like to be pointed at or spoken of like I am not in the room. If you have something to say about me, say it to my face." She lifted her head and took her first real gaze at the gathered lycans. It was disconcerting to have hundreds of eyes fixed on her face but Aislyn hid her unease behind cool indifference. "Does anyone else have any objections or can we get on with it?"

No one stirred as eyes flicked between their vampire-queen and the lycan elder curled on the ground. A dark voice finally spat softly out from the ground at her feet, "Don't think this is over, Bitch."

Aislyn crouched down next to the man, her face close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. "And don't you think you're safe from me just because you're my husband's brother," she whispered. "He hasn't killed you yet because of some deep-seeded family respect. You dare to usurp him again or threaten me, and I will kill you. I have no compunctions regarding your worthless life." She straightened and moved back toward Lucian, who had claimed his throne during Aislyn's heart-to-heart with Adrian.

"Well done," the king murmured for her ears when she reached him. "Just enough force without going overboard."

Aislyn smiled slightly and nodded almost imperceptibly. As much as she would relish being rid of Adrian, she knew better than to get carried away. She just needed to hurt him enough to show dominance. Killing him now would only make the others think she was ruthless and that wasn't the image she was trying to project.

As a couple members of Adrian's pack moved to pick their alpha off the floor, Lucian stood from his seat and nodded at his pack, who were standing around him protectively. They moved back slightly, although Raze remained close by as he usually did. Although a murmuring had broken out amongst the other lycans while Adrian melted back into their ranks, they quieted once more as Lucian raised his hands for their attention. Knowing what was coming next, the throng moved closer to the chair, forming a semi-circle of lycans facing the throne.

"Tonight is the full moon," he started, voice carrying easily to the four corners of the room. "Welcome. Much has happened in these few short weeks since we last met and there are a number of important issues that must be addressed before we can convene as one Pack." He reached his hand out to Aislyn, who took it and stood firmly by his side as an equal would.

"As many of you could sense and the rest have heard through the mutterings of the crowds, I have brought to you a new queen. For those of you who are active in the war efforts and frequent the coven, this should not come as a terribly big surprise." The briefest shine of adoration flashed through his eyes as he looked at Aislyn. He quickly masked it as he looked back to the gathered lycans. The packs were eyeing Aislyn with mixed feelings. Some were glowering similar to Adrian, some were perplexed, others indifferent. A few actually looked pleased, including the she-wolf Gilda who had known Lucian when they were young. "For any of you who have been living under a rock for the past few months, her name is Aislyn, daughter of the heads of our vampire allies."

Lucian cast his eyes around the assembly, face turning suddenly very dour. "Are there any present who find reason to challenge this?" It was formality to ask, even though Aislyn had already voiced the question moments ago. No one did more than cough discreetly and Lucian nodded once with a sharp jerk of his head. "Good." Lucian was fairly certain a good deal of them did object but, after watching what she had done to Adrian, no one was inclined to be likewise injured. The lycan-king doubted very much that Adrian would be the last one Aislyn would have to deal with but at least for the time being she would be safe from having to exert her authority.

He dropped Aislyn's hand and motioned for Trina to come forward. She shuffled out from behind Raze and fidgeted slightly in front of so many familiar faces. She waved vaguely with one hand at a group of lycans around her age: friends and year-mates from Adrian's pack she had grown up with. "I would like to officially announce that I have adopted Trina into the ranks of my pack and, as such, she is no longer of the Pack of Adrian."

There were a couple whispers at that information. Although kingship could change, rarely did members from one pack defect to another unless there was a mating involved, and hardly ever did such a young and untried lycan get picked up by a higher ranking pack. Lucian had not mentioned Trina being mated, which was information that would not have been left out at a full-moon meeting. Those who were members of Adrian's pack did not look directly at the young woman standing next to the king; they were well aware why she had left and were duly embarrassed by the fact that Adrian's temper was to blame.

Eyes turned next to Michael as he moved to stand near the leader at Lucian's beckon. He had not been noticed originally as Aislyn had been the major focus of the packs when they entered. Now, as he stood rigidly next to Lucian, there were a collection of gasps and an incoherent rumbling from the lycans. They could smell that he was not normal and the entire room went instantly on edge.

"This is Michael," Lucian announced, brining the room back into order as his voice cut through half-formed questions that were about to be voiced. "Those of you who fought at Christmas may recognize him as the foreigner we were rescuing. As you can sense, he is not exactly lycan but he claims loyalty to me and, thus, the packs and the war against the Dolls-"

"What is he?" a voice somewhere near the back finally managed to call out. More voices joined that one, agreeing with the question. Lucian held up his hands again and they stilled.

"Michael is a hybrid," Lucian explained carefully. "He is the direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus who was the father of us all."

There was a series of confused mutterings. Only Lucian's pack had been involved in the blending of the species and, although a number of the lycans present had been in the Christmas battle, they were not familiar with what Michael actually was. They assumed he was something else, something new like the Dolls, but had yet to get a clear answer as to what that was.

"A hybrid what?" another voice asked. Those around nodded and looked anxiously between Lucian and Michael.

"He has been bitten by both species. He is neither one, nor the other." Lucian eyed the unease on his peoples' faces. "But I assure you that he is a friend and he is a member of my Pack and should be treated as such." No one argued under the baleful eye of their king but there looked to be a number of them who looked like they were tempted.

"There are no other changes within my pack," Lucian concluded. Trina and Michael moved back to stand with the rest of the small pack they belonged with. "On to the next set of business. Will the members of Daniel's pack please come forward?"

There was a shuffling as fourteen or so separated themselves from the two-hundred. Lucian looked them over with a deep feeling of compassion. They were good lycans and had been unerringly loyal to him since his arrival, despite their small number.

"Daniel was lost to us at the Christmas battle. It has been a week since his death. Have you chosen a new Alpha or do I need to?" Lucian secretly hoped they had made that decision. He did not feel as though he knew the non-alphas well enough to make an informed decision and the last thing he wanted after Adrian's broken bones was another display of dominance fighting to pick the new alpha. The worse case scenario would be that Daniel's pack would be absorbed into the numbers of another of the packs that shared territorial boundaries with the former's turf. The highest ranking of those packs was Adrian's and Lucian hated the idea that such loyal wolves would be placed under the command of a man he was barely keeping a reign on.

"We have," one of the members of the pack spoke. Was it just Lucian or did he look a little nervous? Daniel's pack glanced at each other, shuffled a bit, then their chosen spokesman cleared his throat and ploughed ahead. "We have chosen Brenna." Despite his outwardly twitchy demeanor, the man's voice held a great deal of conviction.

Lucian's eyebrows rose fractionally. That was highly unconventional but he did not voice that opinion. He had a vampire mate and a hybrid in his pack. It seemed hypocritical to question their choice based merely on tradition. Lucian turned his eyes to the woman who had moved a step or two in front of the pack. "Do you accept this appointment?" Lucian asked curiously. It was not part of their ceremony for him to ask but he was genuinely interested that the pack had chosen Daniel's mate to continue his rule.

"Yes," she replied firmly, meeting his eyes without a hint of fear. Lucian found himself liking her as much as he had Daniel. His association with the woman had only been brief before as the mates of the alphas did not usually partake in the leading of the pack. The job of the female alpha was more domestic. The male protected the pack, the female actually organized it. For a woman to be voted into the office of the actual Alpha meant she would be doing the jobs of both. It was a very new idea but not one Lucian was against.

"Very well." Lucian slipped back into formality. "Brenna, formerly of the Pack of Daniel, do you swear your allegiance, and that of your pack, to me?"

"Yes," she said again, nodding definitively.

"Then from this day, you are now the Pack of Brenna. Be welcome." Lucian moved back and sank into his chair as Brenna and her pack dissolved back into the masses. He reached a hand out and was happy to feel Aislyn's fingers grip his from where she stood next to the throne. A lot had just occurred that was not within the norm of the lycan world and he knew there would be objections and feelings would need to be smoothed out. As good of a negotiator as Lucian was, all he really wanted at that moment was to be back at the manor, curled up in bed with Aislyn.

"Now, Alphas to me. I'm sure we have much to discuss. The rest of you, feel free to mingle. It is the full moon tonight. Let us meet as one pack." He lowered his voice and murmured to Raze from the side of his mouth, "Tell our people to keep their ears open. I want to know the opinion of the actual packs on everything that has transpired." Raze nodded as he slipped back to spread the reconnaissance order to the rest of the small pack. Although Lucian would soon know how the Alphas viewed the situation, the majority of the lycans did not always agree with their leaders and it was important that Lucian knew where everyone stood.

There was an instant rush of noise as the crowd started to mix together. The Alphas moved to Lucian's chair, many of them eyeing Brenna suspiciously. Despite the stir she was causing, she hardly seemed to take notice of the males' looks of superiority and mistrust. Females were never elected Alpha, it just wasn't done. But their king did not seem to object and he had a penchant for the unusual. Times were changing but that did not mean the other Alphas had to be happy about it.

It was difficult to tell who they were more untrusting of, however, as they noticed Aislyn not move away. "She's not Alpha," one of the men blurted. He was about to lift a finger to point it at Aislyn, glanced at Adrian's still-bleeding elbow joint, and withdrew his hand hastily lest he loose his own limb to the vampire.

Lucian raised his brow slowly, expression hedging on bored. He said nothing as the Alpha squirmed under his gaze.

"You did call for just the Alphas," another man put in, trying his best to bolster his comrade's confidence.

"Oh, shove it," Brenna snapped, rolling her eyes. "So there are two sets of breasts here. Deal with it. She's the Queen and if His Majesty wants her to take part in our meetings, that's his prerogative." The short, curly haired woman turned suddenly to Aislyn and gave her a supportive smile. "I for one am glad to have some sensibility in this sausage-fest."

Aislyn opened her mouth but wasn't sure what to say. Beside her, Lucian was coughing spasmodically into his fist as he choked on his own spit. The other Alphas looked rather affronted although a couple, Aislyn noticed, were trying their best not to laugh. Brenna, apparently, was a very outspoken woman and not afraid to let others know what she thought. Aislyn mentally grouped the new Alpha amongst her allies.

Lucian regained his composure and waved Brenna back a bit, masking a smile the best he could before turning to the other men. "Perhaps it would do you good to include your mates in important matters of state. You never know what insight they may have that you would overlook. Plus Aislyn is an officer in the vampire forces. Her knowledge is invaluable to our discussion."

"More about these stupid Dolls of yours?" Adrian grumbled, rubbing tenderly at his newly relocated shoulder.

"I'm sorry that the threat to our existence is a hindrance on you," Lucian replied dryly. "If you would be so kind, Brother, to let me finish you would know we have more than that to speak of tonight." At that, the elder flicked his eyes to Aislyn and nodded slightly. She pursed her lips, folded her arms, and nodded back.

"For a number of years, our coven has been at peace with a number of the lesser Hunter clans. Less than forty-eight hours ago, we learned that these clans have betrayed our trust and sold us out to van Helsing. This does not bode too terribly well because, up until now, our alliance with them has kept them off your backs as well. If they are now in league with van Helsing, that means there will be more Hunters out there with a lot better equipment." Aislyn studied their faces for a moment, her eyes stony.

"After this, and the events of Christmas, it would seem as though we have not only a war with the Dolls on our hands, but one with a combined force of Hunters and Slayers brewing as well. We need to keep vigilant to any activity by humans that indicates they may be from either of those factions." She shifted her weight slightly and looked back to Lucian.

"Well." One of the men frowned. "That's… well… shit." He shook his head. "You come here, bring us into one war, and now you're saying we have Hunters breathing down our necks, too?" He glared at Aislyn. "Maybe Adrian has a point."

"Is that a challenge?" Aislyn returned, her tone dangerously low.

The Alpha paused, his expression changing rapidly from anger to unease. "No," he said hastily. "It's just that…" he faltered, searching for his words. He cast a hand out toward the gathered lycans, at the soft men, women, and children greeting old friends and chattering amongst themselves.

"We are not warriors," Brenna supplied for him, eliciting a surprised but grateful look from the male. "Sure we have had our skirmishes with the Hunters but they have mostly left us well enough alone as we don't cause any trouble. Before you came, Aislyn, and brought us our long, lost king, we were relatively peaceful people. You're basically dealing with a bunch of farmers wielding pitchforks compared to your army of guns."

Aislyn's lips turned down in thought. The woman had a point. "If we are dealing with Hunters," she muttered, "then perhaps we should start training you how to actually fight them."

"And if we don't want to fight?" another man asked gruffly.

"Then it is quite likely that you'll end up dead," Lucian said drably. "Aislyn is right. I have overlooked proper training for those of you acting as a fighting force. It is second nature to me now, I often forget others are not as accomplished." He pursed his lips and looked at each of the Alphas in turn. "Aislyn's people train almost constantly. I'm sure there are plenty who will be capable of teaching the fighting arts to others." He glanced at his mate for confirmation and she nodded.

"Right. I need lists of everyone considered battle ready from each pack. Before tonight is out, I want everyone to have a scheduled time in which they will report to the coven for combat training. In the meantime, I wish to speak to each of you individually. Adrian," he shot a look at the tempermental lycan, "I will start with you. Come, let us talk privately." Without waiting to see if his orders were obeyed, he stood, squeezed Aislyn's hand, then left the hall into the commons. Adrian trailed behind him, looking particularly sour.

The Alphas dispersed and Aislyn sought out Michael. "I figured you could use some company that isn't afraid of you," she greeted, switching back to Hungarian.

"Thanks. A few have come up to me, actually, to welcome me to the packs. I think they're from that little pack at the beginning, the one with the woman leader."

"Brenna. I can image they may be a little more progressive than the others, electing a female as their Alpha. I like her, though. She's a bit brash but I can image that's easily ignored once you get used to her."

Michael smirked. "So how long do these things go on?" he asked, changing the subject.

Aislyn shrugged. "Last time I attended it was a couple weeks." She chuckled at the startled look on his face and held up a hand, "But that was because Lucian had just taken over and there was a lot of organizing to do to get the packs to cooperate with the coven. Last month, Lucian was only gone for the day and night. He returned early morning the next day so we should be home no later than ten tomorrow morning."

"What time is it now?" Michael questioned. He glanced at his watch and dropped his arm heavily. "I keep forgetting to make it local time," he grumbled.

"About six-thirty," she informed him, glancing at her own watch. "We have a while yet."

"I should have brought a deck of cards." Michael glanced around at the happily milling pack. "This could drag on when you don't know anyone."

Aislyn suddenly grinned and dug around in one of the inside pockets of her trench coat. "Cop a squat," she told him, dropping cross-legged to the floor. She held up a battered deck held together with a bright yellow rubber band.

"You," Michael said as he sat, "are my hero."

She laughed at him and pulled the rubber band off, putting it around her wrist for safe keeping before starting to shuffle. "I learned well from my mother: be prepared for anything!"

* * *

Selene was not sure what to make of Vlad the first time they were formally introduced. It had been a very brief few words of welcome before he had whisked off to do whatever it was he spent his time doing. That had been a few days ago, right before Aislyn and Lina's encounter with Helena.

Now, as she sat across from him in the kitchen, sipping politely at a glass of blood, she had a very odd tingling sensation creep up the back of her neck that she would not have described as pleasant. There was a very disconcerting gleam in his eyes that he was not bothering to hide as he attempted to spit out what it was he was trying to say. He had worked himself up into a tizzy but she barely understood anything he was trying to explain involving chromosomes, viral replication, rDNA, and something called carcinogenic mutation. She was a Death Dealer. The most biology she had ever studied was to find out the best points of entry for a sword into the body of a lycan.

Selene found herself regretting her choice to venture out of her and Michael's rooms while her husband was at the meeting. She knew she needed to get something to eat or she would start weakening, but she had not anticipated this bizarre turn of events.

Vlad had come into the kitchen moments after she had sat down with her blood. She noticed him glancing at her periodically as he prepared to cut himself a slice of what appeared to be cherry cheesecake. Then, as if he couldn't contain himself any longer, he launched into this elaborate and convoluted jabbering that left Selene's head spinning, his slice of pie mostly forgotten on the countertop. Finally, with a deep breath, he finished with a rush what he obviously assumed was the best explanation ever, and attacked his cheesecake with vigor.

Selene was left with one distinct impression of Vlad Tepes: he was completely, absolutely, unequivocally barking mad. He didn't appear to notice her blank expression until after he had finished his dessert and wiped his mouth on a handkerchief pulled from the sleeve of his dress-shirt.

"I'm terribly sorry. Did you want some cheesecake?" He blinked at her, motioning to the empty plate.

"Ah, no thank you." Selene tapped her glass. "I cannot eat human food. It has the potential to kill me."

Vlad nodded thoughtfully for a moment, opened his mouth, and instantly made Selene regret elaborating on her refusal. It took him at least another five minutes to run out of steam while he contemplated the reasons behind that phenomenon. Finally, when he had once again fell silent, Selene managed to break into the one-sided conversation.

"I really do not mean to sound rude, but is there something you need from me? To be perfectly frank, this is more of Michael's field than mine." She hoped whatever it was he was looking for it wouldn't take him another fifteen minutes to explain it.

Vlad blinked again, reminding her a little bit of an owl. "Michael's field?"

"He was a doctor." Selene held her breath, waiting for the rambling to start again but Vlad remained thankfully coherent.

"I can appreciate that. I'm sorry if I have come off as being a bit excitable. What I am looking for, to be more straight-forward, is a sample of your blood." Vlad rested his elbows on the countertop, steepling his hands in front of his face as he regarded her.

Selene thought that 'a bit excitable' was the understatement of the month but let it go. She wasn't the kind to make a snarky comment to someone she had only met twice and in whose home she was being so hospitably housed. "My blood?" she asked instead.

"Yes. My lovely wife has mentioned to me your unique ability. It is my understanding you inherited that from Alexander Corvinus through consumption of his blood." His mood had shifted so suddenly to calm and serious that Selene had a very hard time believing it was the same man. Warily, she nodded confirmation to his statement, praying to whoever was listening that he didn't go off on another rant. "She has also hypothesized that, should I drink your blood, I, too, will inherit this ability."

"Yes. We spoke of that briefly while Michael and I told our story. Do you think it is possible?" She braced herself, waiting for the mad scientist to re-emerge. He seemed to have gone to bed for the night, though, as the cool and collected Vlad remained across from her.

"Perhaps. But before I condemn myself to some horrid side effect should it be incompatible with my own anomalies, I wish to test a small sample of your blood against mine and watch how it reacts. Microscopically, naturally."

Now that he was talking more sensibly and not akin to a cattle auctioneer, Selene could follow his train of thought. She had to agree that his plan would be a very good idea. If it hadn't been for the fact that they were terribly strapped for time when Alexander was dying, she may have stopped to question the exact effects of drinking his blood. She had been lucky that nothing devastating had occurred but she already housed a Corvinus virus. Vlad was an entirely different matter and it was wise to approach the idea of mixing her blood with his cautiously.

"Of course. I am more than happy to give you any samples you need. Michael and I are in debt to your people for saving us. We would be rude to not repay your generosity."

Vlad stood abruptly and Selene's nerve endings fired at the unexpected movement. After so many years of reacting instinctually to any sudden motion, she was barely able to keep herself from flying backwards off her seat. As it was she was pretty sure her fingers twitched toward where her guns were usually concealed, even though she knew perfectly well that she was unarmed. The man didn't notice however.

"As soon as you're done eating, I'll be in my study. It's the middle door under the walkway. Knock thrice and I'll take a sample of your blood." That unstable glint had returned to his eyes as he took a step back and was unexpectedly and unexplainably gone from the room.

Selene slipped off her stool and spun around, eyes wide as she realized she was completely alone in the kitchen. The prickle at the back of her neck returned and, needing to get away from the spooky feeling, she snagged her glass and nearly ran into the commons. The vampires present glanced her way curiously before going back to their various activities.

The Viral composed her features, gripped her glass more tightly, and moved across the room with purpose, heading to where she saw Lina in discussion with a few others. There was a set of maps spread out on a table they were looking at intently and, curiosity getting the better of her, Selene went to investigate.

As the woman approached, Lina looked up and smiled a greeting. "You look like you've just seen a ghost," the younger vampire commented, straightening her back from where she was bent over the map. She arched it, popping her spine, and sighed deeply.

"Your husband just vanished," Selene near whispered in explanation.

"Oh, yes. He does that. Just try your best to ignore it when he's showing off like that." Lina waved a dismissive hand in the air. "Sorry if I didn't mention that before. Must've come as quite a shock."

Selene nodded slightly before turning her attention to the maps. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Lina admitted. "I found these in one of our conference rooms. It smacks of Aislyn's hand but she didn't mention anything to anyone about what the hell she was getting at with all this. Take a look and see if you see anything."

Selene moved closer and bent over the maps. She picked up a notepad with Aislyn's scrawl, then glanced back down at the maps with pursed lips. She tilted her head, moved around the other side of the table, and then cocked her head in the other direction. "It almost looks like she's trying to make a pattern out of it."

"Precisely. But a pattern of what?" Lina tapped her fingernails on the tabletop. "It's so annoyingly familiar but I can't place it. It's right there, on the tip of my tongue but I can't seem to grasp what it was she was starting to put together."

Selene looked at the notepad again. "It would seem she was having the same issue. When do you suppose they will be back?"

"Before noon tomorrow morning, most likely." Lina shrugged. "I just know this is going to bother me all night, though, like when you're trying to remember the name of someone specific and it suddenly comes to you at three in the morning but no one else is awake to tell."

Selene nodded, although she wasn't entirely certain she knew what Lina was talking about. "Well, if you come up with anything, you can always tell me. I'm usually awake at three in the morning." Her small attempt at a joke was met with a light chuckle from the lady of the house.

"I'll hold you to that, mark me." Lina sighed and bent back over the maps. Selene excused herself and made her way toward the overhang, her glass almost empty. She had a pretty good feeling that Vlad was waiting on pins and needles to get his hands on a vial of her blood. After seeing his random and somewhat unnerving changes in emotion, she did not really want to make him wait.

* * *

Aislyn looked up as a shadow passed over her and Michael. She smiled grimly at Lucian as the lycan crouched next to them. "Well?" she asked quietly, setting her hand of cards to one side to focus her attention on her mate.

"They're divided almost exactly on their opinions," he murmured back. "But they will comply for now. Trying to get Adrian to promise to behave himself was like pulling teeth, though."

"Not unexpected," Aislyn commented.

"No, but annoying. If he weren't my brother…" Lucian let the thought float in the air. "As much as I hate that man, he hasn't actually done anything to warrant killing him."

"What about the others? Who's on our side?"

"Brenna, of course, and two of the Alphas from smaller packs. Nathan, too, although I'm not sure if I should trust him to be sincere. I would not have taken him for being supportive."

"He's the one-eyed one, right?" Aislyn asked and Lucian nodded.

"His mate was killed by vampires before he fled Hungary," Lucian elaborated. "Time will tell if he's actually being truthful about his allegiance."

"Well, six is better than none," Michael offered, slipping into the conversation.

"Yes, but that is just the Alphas," Lucian reminded the other two. "The rest of the pack has been moving through the crowds, trying to get a feel for the opinions of the entirety of the clan. We may have more support than we think."

"So, if the majority of the actual packs are supportive, then what happens if the Alphas decide they won't follow you?" Michael tossed his cards onto the deck as the game had obviously ended with Lucian's arrival.

"One of two things may happen." Lucian sat from his crouch, leaning in and lowering his voice to keep their conversation private. "If the Alphas hold enough sway with their own people, I could well be dethroned and we will lose a lot of allies. However, if, like Trina, the packs hold more regard for me than for their own leaders, there is the potential that I can dissolve the entire pack system."

"Anarchy?" Michael sounded like he was hazarding a guess.

"No. What I mean is no more multiple Alphas, no more negotiating, no more Kingdom. They will be assimilated into the numbers of my pack and we will again be a single, cohesive unit of lycans. One clan. One Alpha."

Michael glanced around them then laughed shortly in the back of his throat. "That's a lot of wolves in one pack."

"And a lot of territory," Aislyn added. "Plus these are only the London packs. If they were to become a single den? Can you imagine the threat that would pose to the dens in the surrounding townships? Or even the Scottish packs?"

"Threat? I don't understand," Michael admitted. He was terribly new to the entire idea of werewolves and knew the least about the actual social workings of the species. "Why would they be threatened?"

"For centuries, the London packs have been united under a single king but they retained their individual communities." Lucian shifted slightly. "Imagine if, suddenly, someone came in and took complete control from the Alphas. Now, imagine if you're an Alpha living just outside that new, giant pack's territory."

"I'd be scared shitless that the war-mongering Lucian would come after my pack next, trying to absorb me into the ranks. To become an Alpha and then lose that authority entirely is a huge blow to the ego of a lycan," Aislyn supplied. "You're not truly lycan, Michael, and you haven't spent a good deal of your life studying them like I have. Once you know how they think, you can see these things more clearly."

"That does make sense. So we try to avoid assimilation, then?" The hybrid looked to Lucian, who nodded firmly.

"If we can get by without changing how these lycans have lived for centuries that would be best. I've already brought too many new ideas and ways to them."

Aislyn chucked and started gathering all the cards together to put away in her jacket. "Ironic, since you're basically the father of the lycan breed."

As the three stood, Michael cast his eyes around the room once more. "Now what?"

Lucian gazed over Aislyn's shoulder as the woman checked her watch. "It's nearly ten."

"Yes, and I need to walk the crowds for a bit," Lucian added. "You're welcome to join me. It may help me gauge their feelings better. After midnight, we will probably retire to the guest dens and then I can find out what our people have discovered." He held his hand out to Aislyn, who took it with a smile. Then, with Michael at his other elbow, Lucian led the way into the throngs.

* * *

**AN**: Took me long enough, huh? I hope that's sufficient for this chapter, because that's what you're going to get! I also hope that the conversation between Lucian and Vlad made enough sense. Although I do have a background in the biological sciences, I know I had to fudge a few things to make the whole idea work. Let me know if you think it needs work or if you were still confused on anything.

And sorry Shaz… I didn't quite make it to 20,000 words! Maybe next time…


	12. Betrayal

AN: Sorry this took a while to get updated, and that it isn't as long as previous chapters. But this is about all I wanted to get out for this portion.

**Chapter Twelve: Betrayal**

The manor was quiet when Lucian and his weary crew finally slogged their way across the threshold into a building that was now feeling very much like home. Although Adrian's underground abode was comfortable enough, the lycans were starting to view Vlad's house as being their den and there was nothing quite like coming back to your own bed after being away for a night. As soon as they reached the living room, Lucian waved his wolves a dismissal, which they jointly sighed at in relief.

The sound of the small pack entering the house was not lost on the daytime occupants and shortly after the lesser members of the group started to head up the stairs, a couple women descended in their place. Selene went straight to Michael, touching his arm gently in greeting, while Lina moved to her daughter and son-in-law.

"How did it go?" Lina voiced without any pretense.

"Considerably better than it could have but not nearly as well as would have been appreciated," Lucian reported tiredly. "The Alpha's have divided opinions but it seems like the majority of the lycans will not fight the changes, if just barely the majority."

"I guess that's better than nothing," Lina agreed. "What about the Hunter issue?"

"They will keep their eyes open but no one has noticed anything out of the ordinary," Aislyn replied, digging her knuckles into her eyes and stifling a yawn. "Anything while we were gone?"

"Not really, although I'd like to go over your little project with you." Lina motioned to a table where the maps were still sprawled from the previous night.

Aislyn gazed at the maps with a slightly glazed expression. "Can it wait until tonight?"

Lina raised an eyebrow at the near-whine in her daughter's voice then took a closer look at those still downstairs. Everyone seemed more heavy-lidded than was usually typical when the wolves returned from their full-moon gatherings. "Sleepless night?"

"You could say that," Aislyn replied grimly. "I think I slept maybe three hours?" She glanced at Lucian for confirmation and he nodded slightly.

"We had a lot to discuss with the pack once the gathering was over. Not the worst we've managed in the past but enough to make us a little on the tired side."

"Well, head up to bed for a few hours. This stuff isn't going anywhere." Lina waved toward the diagrams on the table then turned the motion into a shoo, urging the others to go take a nap.

* * *

Whatever grand discovery Aislyn had been on the cusp of was lost to her now that over a day had passed. She had spent a few useless hours staring at her diagrams and notes before tossing her hands up in defeat, uttering more than a few choice words about the doll makers, and shaking her head at an equally aggravated Lina.

As night descended on the manor and the coven came alive, Lina and her daughter rolled up the maps and put them away for later. Perhaps after a few days went by one of them would have an epiphany and be able to put an end to the irritating issue.

Shortly after moonrise, Vlad emerged from his private study. With a few quick words to Lina, he retreated into the darkness under the second floor walkway followed by his wife, daughter, Lucian, Michael, and Selene. The small group noted that Nagire and Tekala were already seated in chairs near the hardwood desk.

"Thank you for all being prompt," Vlad started, sitting on the edge of the desk. Everyone shuffled around to find seats in anticipation of this confidential meeting. "Now that the lycans are back from their gathering, and my daughter with them-" he nodded toward Aislyn and Lucian in acknowledgement, "-I want to propose an experiment based on some findings I have had over the past twenty-four hours."

The lord stood suddenly from his desk and paced a few steps one way before spinning and back-tracking. With everyone crowded in his office, he did not have much room to roam in his excitement. "I have taken a sample of Selene's blood," Vlad explained, rubbing his hands together. "Although most tests were somewhat ineffective as to what would happen should I consume it, I do not believe there would be any adverse affects with an attempt. So, with that said, I think tonight would be an excellent time to try."

The gathered family members exchanged glances. Aislyn cleared her throat slightly, bringing her father's walking to a halt. "It's your choice and we're all for it, but why call a meeting about it?"

"Because I think we should keep this under wraps for now." Crimson met crimson as Vlad met Aislyn's eyes, his expression firm. "If this works, I would prefer not to alert the rest of the coven yet."

"Why not?" Tekala piped up from her spot next to Nagire. "This could be a great advantage for us!"

Vlad's expression didn't change as his gaze shifted to his daughter-in-law. "How many coven members are there?" he asked evenly.

Tekala frowned, glancing at her husband. "At least a hundred," she hazarded. Nagire nodded agreement then looked to Lina for further confirmation.

"One hundred, twenty-eight," Lina supplied. "With six more on the way." She shot Lucian a wry grin. "For some reason, a lot of babies are born nine months after the start of winter." The lycan ignored the innuendo.

"What do you suppose would happen if this works and the entire coven finds out that Selene's blood could turn them to daywalkers?" Vlad continued.

"They would suck her dry in their desperation," Aislyn growled.

"My thoughts exactly," Vlad agreed. "If this works, what I propose we do is start taking out doses of Selene's blood in manageable amounts." He glanced at the Viral. "With your permission, that is. Then, when there is enough, we will distribute it amongst the coven."

"Sensible," Lucian remarked, nodding. Eyes turned toward the Viral and her silent mate.

Selene shifted under their stares and nodded slightly. "Anything to help," she murmured. "It shouldn't matter if they take it directly from me or from a vial as far as I know," Selene added.

"As far as we know, it should only take about a mouthful to pass the ability on. Thus, if you feel up to it, I would suggest that myself, Nagire, and Tekala all make an attempt tonight." Vlad reached a hand toward his desk, picking up a vial filled with red liquid, looking at it thoughtfully.

"The sooner we try, the sooner we will know if it will work," Nagire replied sensibly. There were murmurs of agreement.

"Bottoms up," Vlad murmured, popping the top of the vial with his thumb. He threw back his head and drained the thick liquid, then passed two other vials to his son and daughter-in-law.

"Do you feel any different?" Lina prompted when no one spoke.

"Not really," Tekala replied, looking a little disappointed.

"I didn't either," Selene explained. "I didn't even know I could daywalk until the sun came up and I didn't turn to ash."

"Then all we can do is wait." Vlad gathered the empty vials and set them aside to place in his lab later. "Please meet me in the entryway near dawn."

It was an obvious dismissal and those gathered quickly filed out of the room. The coven members glanced their way curiously but knew better than to pry into the private lives of the main family. That Selene and Michael were involved was a point of interest but it was unlikely any of the lesser members of the complex were going to find out what had passed in the private study.

* * *

"Aislyn?" Vlad poked his head out of his downstairs study and eyed the contents of the living room in search of his daughter. He was met with the blank stares of the combined werewolf and vampire occupants. Frowning, the lord of the house closed his door behind him and jogged up the stairway to the walkway above.

He knocked politely on her door but met with no answer. His lips turned downward and he whisked across the balcony to Lucian's door, repeating the rapping. Still no answer.

"The study then," he murmured to himself, moved quickly back across the hallway, ignoring the eyes that followed him from below.

Reaching the small family room across from his own door, he opened it without bothering to knock. It was communal space so announcing his presence was not expected.

"Aislyn?" He called as he stepped across the threshold, eyes flicking round the room, expecting to see her. Instead he was met with Lina's raised eyebrows.

"Close, but please try again," Lina replied dryly, setting aside the book she had been reading.

"I'm looking for Aislyn," he explained.

"I never would have figured that." Lina smirked at her husband's irritated expression.

"I wanted to discuss a possible outing," he started again, as if explaining his reasoning would help her suddenly appear. "What with my being able to…" he made a vague gesture toward the outside world.

Lina laughed slightly and shook her head. "You've done nothing but plan family activities since drinking that blood," she said with mock exasperation. "Perhaps your daughter is purposefully avoiding you."

"Do you really think so?" The concerned look on his face made Lina chuckle more before shaking her head.

"I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm sure Aislyn is enjoying your new father-daughter daylight excursions as much as you are." Lina stood from her chair and padded across the carpets to where Vlad stood, wrapping her arms around his waist when she reached him.

It had been a week since Vlad had consumed Selene's blood. Their initial experimentation with sunlight had led to varying degrees of success and Vlad had gone into over-drive on his newfound ability to experience daylight. He still burned easily – more so than the average northern-European human – but Lina forced him to slather up with an insanely powerful sunscreen and that seemed to keep the UV exposure to a less scalding level.

Since the discovery that their theory was generally correct, Vlad had decided he needed to make up for lost time. Where he got the idea that he needed to plan picnics and boating trips, no one really knew. It was a great source of amusement to the main family each time he came up with a new scheme to have some fun in the sun.

"I was thinking we should take a bicycle ride," he mused into his wife's hair. "What do you think?"

Lina pushed away from him with a level stare. "Do you even known how to ride a bike?"

"What is there to know?" he returned. "Peddle and don't fall off."

Lina closed her eyes for a moment as if collecting herself. "Sure, we can give it a try. When Aislyn get's back, I'm sure she'll be happy to teach you."

"When she gets back?" Vlad frowned again, moving across the room to sit in Lina's vacated chair. She plopped herself down unceremoniously in his lap, leaning against him so she could tuck her head under his chin.

"She's not here." Lina's tone plainly said it was obvious.

"Where did she go? I looked at the patrol rosters; she's not scheduled until next week."

Lina sat up and gave her husband a mischievous grin. "Lucian took her out to dinner. Someplace swanky." She lowered her voice conspiratorially, even thought they were the only ones in the room. "I think he's going to propose."

Vlad blinked a few times. "Why am I the last to hear about this?" he finally ground out.

Lina stared at him for a moment. "You gave him the ring to do it…" she started carefully.

"What? No, not that." He waved his hand dismissively. "Why didn't I know they were out?"

"You've been buried in your laboratory all evening," Lina commented blandly, folding her arms and leaning back against the arm of the chair to better see his face. "We all know better than to disturb you when you're playing with your chemistry set."

"It's not a-" Vlad shook his head, rolled his eyes, and pinched her side. He was rewarded with her squeak and a smack on his arm, but it was worth it. "Well, hopefully they will be back before too long. Until then I think there's an old bicycle upstairs in one of the junk rooms. I'm going to go dig it out."

"Suit yourself." Lina hopped off his lap and swept an arm toward the door.

"You'll let me know when she gets back?"

"Of course. Have fun and please don't hurt yourself."

Vlad smirked over his shoulder at his wife as he left the room, pulling a face at her for her pertness.

* * *

Aislyn had been surprised when Lucian suggested they go out to eat. She was even more startled when the restaurant he mentioned was notorious for having a "no tie, no service" reputation. He was usually so practical and not one to throw money around. On top of that, she wondered how he had ever gotten reservations. One did not simple walk into Chateau Blanc without actually knowing someone. When she demanded how he had managed it, Lucian had merely smiled secretively and refused to answer.

The food had been excellent, if on the smaller side, and the wait staff was expectedly simpering. Aislyn had noted a number of parliament members and a few movie stars amongst the other patrons who gave the two unknowns in their midst a curious glance before going back to their meals. Lucian and Aislyn were, after all, very good at making themselves inconspicuous.

After dinner, Aislyn expected to head home but it was apparent that Lucian had a different idea. The road he took them down was definitely not in the right direction.

"Where are we going?" Aislyn asked, frowning at the obviously incorrect streets.

"You'll see," he murmured, smirking at her without any more elaboration. Realizing that was about all she was going to get out of him, Aislyn sat back in her seat and contented herself with gazing out the window.

* * *

Lina frowned as she stood in the antechamber of the manor. Her cell phone was held tightly in her hand. The woman glanced at it every thirty seconds or so with an obvious air of impatience. She pulled aside a drape covering a front window and gazed out at the quiet streets of the complex, then back down at her phone.

The door to the main living room opened behind her and Lina heard the faint rub of wheels on oriental carpet. She turned her eyes to stare at Vlad as he pushed a bike into the entryway that was probably older than she was. With a slight roll of her eyes, she went back to gazing at her phone.

"They'll come back eventually," Vlad commented, leaning his bike against one of the walls.

"They're overdue by at least half an hour," she replied tersely. Her agitated motions repeated themselves: phone, curtain, phone.

"You honestly believe they're going to be back by a certain time?" Vlad's eyebrows shot up slightly and he half laughed to himself. The dour look he received from his wife cut the sound short. "Seriously, Nightingale, sometimes these things take time. And there could be other things happening. You're the one who is always telling me to be practical."

Lina blinked rapidly. "You're making about as much sense as a puffer fish speaking Japanese."

He checked his watch. "It's only 3am," he said in a logical tone. "They could be out all night."

"They would have called if something had happened," Lina returned shortly, peering out from behind the curtain again.

It was Vlad's turn to blink blankly at her. "Why in the world would they call if something happened? I wasn't aware that was the protocol."

Red met red as husband and wife gawked silently at one another.

"We're not talking about the same people, are we?" Vlad finally said flatly. It wasn't really a question and Lina took it as the statement it was meant for.

"One of the patrols hasn't returned," Lina told him, worry returning to her features. "Like I said, they're overdue by nearly forty-five minutes now. No one has called and none of the other patrols have heard anything about an attack, Doll or otherwise."

Vlad's lips thinned. "Who are the scouts?" He easily slipped into action mode and moved to stand beside her, looking out the window over her shoulder.

"Two Wolves from one of the other packs and Nigel," she reported grimly.

Vlad hummed low in the back of his throat. Nigel had been one of his officers for quite some time. It wasn't like him to be tardy.

"Have we sent others out on their path?"

Lina nodded affirmative, rechecked her phone for the umpteenth time, then turned her eyes to her husband. "I haven't heard from them yet."

"Perhaps we should go personally," he murmured close to her ear.

Lina shook her head slightly. "I only sent the others out a short while ago. I doubt they're even to the proper patrol route. They're supposed to text or call when they're on the path."

"What about the homing beacon?" Vlad asked next.

"The car still appears to be parked in its original location. It hasn't been moved or tampered with. I assume that means the patrol hasn't gotten back to it." The woman gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment.

"Call a meeting of officers. I want all our people plus just Lucian's two. Tell Raze to post a couple of his most trusted men outside the door to prevent any eavesdropping." Without another word, Vlad spun on his heel and marched himself back into the house. Lina followed closely behind and made a few motions at nearby officers.

She quickly outlined to them that there was to be a meeting and to gather the others. Then she went in search of Raze.

She found him in his room. By the logy look he gave her, he must have been asleep. Her entire posture screamed possible emergency and the lycan quickly shook off his grogginess as he listened to her orders. With a nod, he rasped that he would be there shortly and Lina left to go back downstairs.

Fifteen minutes later, the remaining vampire officers, plus Raze and Dubas, sat around the long meeting table in the map-walled conference room. Outside the door, looking about as intimidating as possible, stood Trina and Romulus. Although there wasn't anyone in his pack that Raze thought disloyal to Lucian, they were the two he trusted most to follow his own orders in their Alpha's absence.

Eyes turned to Lina as she stood and started outlining the events. "I still have not received confirmation from the second patrol. They should have been there by now." The gathered vampires and lycans exchanged grim expressions.

"Raze, which pack are those two a part of? We may have to contact that group should these men be found other than alive." Lina sat back down and leaned toward the large second-in-command.

The dark man narrowed his eyes at the names on the roster Lina had slid his way. "Mayson, I believe."

"You don't know?" Vlad questioned. Lina shot him a dark look and the lord drummed his fingers on the table in response.

"There are over two hundred of us," Raze replied stiffly. "I cannot be certain without smelling them." He pushed the paper over to Dubas, who squinted at the words and nodded.

"I think Raze is right," he said tersely before sitting back in his chair and cradling his still half-mobile arm. "Looks like some of Mayson's crew."

Lina opened her mouth to ask something else but was cut off by as a high pitched beeping emitted from her pocket. She gyrated for a moment, trying to dig the phone out before flipping it open and placing it to her ear. "Yes?"

The gathered watched Lina closely as she nodded absently to whoever was on the other side of the line, regardless of the fact that they wouldn't be able to see the motion. "All right. 'Kay. Hold on."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the mouthpiece with her hand.

"It's the second patrol. They don't see any signs of Mayson's men or of Nigel. They don't see any evidence of fighting or anything else out of the ordinary. It's just as though they up and vanished."

"Tell them to come home immediately," Vlad ordered. "We'll regroup when they arrive. I want this entire coven on lockdown. Do we have any other agents out there right now?"

"Two," one of the other officers supplied while Lina stuck one finger in her other ear and relayed the information to the patrol.

"Where?" Vlad reached across the distance between himself and Dubas, snagging the roster. His eyes scanned it while the previous officer continued.

"They're together, out by Westminster with the lycan Regan."

"He's from Brenna's pack," Raze informed them. "I remember him well."

"Call our men and tell them to get back here. I want to know where everyone is until we find Nigel." Vlad scowled at the piece of paper. He heard Lina flip her phone closed and gave her a grim look. "Call Aislyn. I don't care what they're in the middle of. I want her back here and safe."

Lina nodded and reopened her phone. Across the table, one of the other officers was dialing their other operatives. The room fell silent.

A moment later, the officer starting talking briskly to someone on the other end. He hung up then nodded at Vlad to let him know the word had reached their men.

"Hey, it's Mom. We have a situation. Get home as soon as you can." Lina flipped her phone shut and shook her head slightly. "Voicemail," she muttered.

"I will keep trying when we're done," Vlad murmured back then turned to the assembled immortals. "I want each of you to take an area of the coven and talk to our civilians. Let them know that we have a possible situation. I want them to remain in their homes. Should they hear any alarm sirens, they need to retreat underground and await further instruction. Lina," he turned gravely to his wife once more. "I want you to speak with Nigel's family. Explain to them what has happened and that we are trying our best to find him." With a heavy sigh than hedged on a growl, he stood from his chair and leaned slightly forward on the table. "Dismissed for now. If anyone hears anything, inform either myself or Lina immediately."

There was a whisper of wheels rolling back as everyone else stood and made their way out of the room. The officers started dividing up zones of the coven while Lina headed for the front door with purposeful strides.

Raze waggled a finger at his wolves and they gathered around him near the stairwell. In a few, blunt words he outlined what had happened and told them to double their patrols around the interior perimeters of the coven grounds.

The men moved quickly to obey, leaving just Trina and Dubas standing with the temporary Alpha. He surveyed them both with his dark gaze.

"What do you think has happened to them?" Trina asked finally, voice as small as her stature.

"Worse case, they've been captured."

"Killed?" Trina squeaked.

"Doubtful," Dubas said with a sneer directed more at the situation than at young wolf.

"Why wouldn't they kill them?" Bright green flicked between both male lycans. The men seemed reluctant to elaborate and were doing their best to not look at her. Finally, Trina bared her teeth at them both and grabbed Raze's arm with a surprisingly strong grip. "I'm not a baby," she hissed in an undertone. "I was at the Christmas battle and did just fine until that sod knocked me over the head."

Raze closed his eyes briefly then looked down at the petite blond who was fuming next to him. "We don't know what's become of them but if there is no sign of them, it must mean they've been abducted. If the kidnappers meant to kill them, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to make them vanish. The snatchers would have just killed them and left them there. This is deeper than that, Trina."

"But why would they kidnap some of our people?" she pressed, baffled.

"Because they know where we are," Dubas grated back. "This smacks of that bitch. Dolls wouldn't kidnap; they're too mindless. And whoever the doll maker is doesn't seem to have any actual purpose and has never actively come after us."

"Dubas is right," Raze rasped. "The only one with anything to gain from stealing our men is Hellsing. If she's in league with the Hunters now, snagging two lycan and a vampire can give her the location of all the dens, and the coven."

The color drained rapidly from Trina's face. "But they won't talk," she said without much conviction. "I mean, they can't possibly-"

"The bravest man may talk under extreme conditions," Raze told her as gently as he could, hand landing on her shoulder heavily.

"What time is it?" Dubas asked randomly as silence started to creep over their small council.

Trina glanced dejectedly at her watch. "Half-past three."

Dubas sighed and rubbed his forehead with his good hand. "Right. I'm going to go walk the walls with the others for a while. I was supposed to have a patrol at three but we all know that's not happening now." The lanky lycan wandered away toward the front door, leaving Trina and Raze alone together by the stairs.

"It's just a theory," Raze finally said when Trina looked close to melting down. "For all we know this is related to the Dolls. We are a large thorn in the side of whoever is creating them."

"It doesn't make as much sense as what Dubas has said," she murmured, gnawing on her thumbnail in agitation. "Raze, I've been thinking… I mean, you obviously know that Romulus and I overheard the meeting." She waited for him to nod before continuing. "Raze, Mayson is not a friendly ally."

The corners of Raze's mouth turned downward ever so slightly. "He's never voiced dissent."

Trina fidgeted. "I think I should talk to Lina," she replied instead of acknowledging Raze's words.

"She's out talking to the missing vampire's family."

The young woman gyrated a little more, thumb going raw from how hard she started biting on it. "Vlad, then."

Raze nearly started. He was not one for surprise after all he had gone through but he knew that Trina was absolutely terrified of the coven's master. For her to ask to speak with him in this situation made Raze reevaluate how anxious she looked. "Do you know something?"

"Not specifically." She shook her head quickly. "But I do know Mayson better than you do."

It was enough for Raze and he took a firm grip on Trina's hand, leading her back through the doors of the meeting room. Vlad had not left when the others did. As Raze suspected, the lord was pacing the length of the room, a phone to his ear as he attempted time and time again to get Aislyn to pick up her phone.

At the sight of the two werewolves, Vlad paused between speed dials, raising his brows in askance.

Trina swallowed heavily, and then motioned toward the door, looking at Raze. The large wolf closed it soundly without a word, correctly guessing that she didn't want anyone overhearing them.

"Uhm," the girl started, shuffling forward under the red gaze of the vampire. He waited with obvious impatience for her to say whatever it was she had come to say. When she seemed to have lost her voice, he sighed more dramatically than really necessary and placed his hands on his hips.

"We are in the middle of a potential crisis right now," he informed her, voice edgy. "If you're just here to get in the way then-"

"About Mayson." Trina finally managed to get her voice box working and she blurted out the first partial sentence her brain formed. It was extremely difficult for her to speak around the intimidating vampire.

Vlad's words died on his lips and he raised his brows, instantly interested in what she had to say. The change in attitude wasn't much better as far as Trina was concerned as now it meant he was giving her his undivided and blood-colored attention.

"I overheard at the door," she started a bit awkwardly. "And they really don't know him that well." She faltered slightly under his scrutiny, visibly calmed herself, then ploughed ahead. "Mayson is too ambitious for his own good."

Vlad frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You said he wasn't a friendly ally," Raze reminded her in hope of prompting her into further explanation.

"He's not. I realize I've only known him for a short time compared to those of you who've been alive forever, but I've known him long enough to see him rise up through his pack and through the entire pack in the short time since I was born." Trina edged toward the table and pulled a chair closer so she could sit. Vlad copied her in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable. Raze remained by the door as if guarding their conversation from any possible interruptions.

"Mayson," Trina continued, courage plucking up as she realized Vlad was truly listening and considering what she said important. "He's ambitious to the point where I think it actually may override our natural inclination toward authority."

"Stronger than the Alpha instinct?" Vlad asked quietly. Trina nodded.

"He's also selfish in his ambition. When I was a little girl, a man named Quag was Alpha of that pack. I remember him because he smelled like caramel and always gave me biscuits at the full-moon gatherings. Anyway, Quag's pack held a small territory at the south end of London. It wasn't much but they were a small pack. In the last twelve, thirteen years, not only has Quag died of a still unexplained accident, but Mayson has taken over that pack and _absorbed_ two packs with adjacent territories, more than tripling his numbers. In both those cases, the Alphas from those packs had died."

"How did he receive Lucian?" Vlad questioned, not hiding the worry lines that started to form on his brow.

"Graciously," Raze rumbled from behind them.

Trina's mouth thinned grimly. "He always used to suck up to my grandfather and was part of his inner circle before Uncle showed up. As soon as Lucian took control, Mayson gave him his complete and unquestioning support."

"Sounds like your usual lycan loyalty," Vlad mused, still frowning.

"Yes, except Mayson never does anything unless it benefits him personally. The added territory increased his pack's hunting grounds and thus his own status within the entire pack. My uncle is a powerful lycan and is obviously not going to lose his pack to my grandfather easily. It was in Mayson's best interests to side with the stronger Alpha." Trina started chewing unconsciously on her thumb again.

"If I'm to catch the proper drift of this conversation, are you implying that Mayson may be behind tonight?" Vlad leaned forward a little, dropping his voice.

"His men were with Nigel," Trina replied firmly. "And it's an unspoken assumption that the deaths of the three alphas in Mayson's territory were not coincidental. There's no actual proof but many think it was his plan to gain power. He's just not strong enough to take out either Lucian or Adrian to gain the actual throne."

"What benefit would it be to kidnap one of my officers?" Vlad asked next, obviously puzzled.

"I don't know that part but I'm just telling you that I wouldn't trust him or any of his kin with any sensitive information tonight."

Vlad looked hard at the young lycan for a long, uncomfortable moment. "Do you have a suggestion floating around in there somewhere?" he prompted when she looked about ready to fidget her way off the chair and onto the floor.

Trina steeled herself, a deep breath rising in her chest as she prepared to say what she was sure Vlad would not want to hear from a low ranking nobody. "Evacuate."

She watched as the corner of the lord's mouth twitched in what could vaguely be described as a smirk. "Evacuate?" he repeated blandly. "Why?"

"Mayson knows the location of the coven. You've already put the entire place on high alert and lockdown. You suspect an attack. Why give them an easy target?" she countered. "Why not just remove everyone incase something happens?"

Vlad sighed and shook his head, tilting his gaze toward the ceiling as if seeking knowledge from some higher being. "Well, firstly we don't have a place to evacuate to," he explained. At her frown, he elaborated. "As you know, we're the only coven of our kind. And if Mayson is on some sort of ludicrous power-gaining scheme, we can't exactly move the noncombatants to the lycan dens, now can we?"

"Well, no," she admitted. "But you don't have anywhere?"

Vlad shook his head. "It hasn't exactly been an issue in the past. We do have underground passages that lead to secret locations outside the coven but they do not go to a specific warehouse. If the need to evacuate does arise, we could get them out that way, assuming it isn't daylight."

Trina chewed on her bottom lip, thumb starting to edge its way back toward her teeth. She clamped down on her nail and looked down at the table top, worry obvious on her face.

"Do not misunderstand me," Vlad continued in a tone that was surprisingly gentle compared to what Trina expected. "I'm just as concerned with this as you are and I appreciate you brining this information to my attention. It's puzzling why Mayson would kidnap an officer but perhaps your suspicions have merit. I still believe we should wait and see how this pans out before making any drastic measures. If we evacuate now and have no where to put all those people, what will happen when the sun comes up?"

Trina nodded her comprehension and stood up slowly. "Thank you for hearing me out," she said earnestly. Vlad stood as well, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Keep your ears open," he said in way of response. "If you hear anything else suspicious from anyone, let me know immediately." He squeezed slightly then let her go and nodded briskly to Raze.

The dark wolf recognized the dismissal and steered Trina out of the conference room. As soon as the door closed behind them, the woman let out a heavy breath as if she had been holding it the entire time. "He gives me such a case of the heebie-jeebies," she uttered.

Raze smile vaguely but did not reply otherwise. Instead he indicated she should follow him to the kitchen where he fixed her a hot cup of tea and insisted she drink it all before ordering her to bed. "You're tired and agitated," he explained as he nearly forced her up the stairs. "I will keep my eyes on things down here. I want you to rest. I'll wake you should anything change."

"Promise?" she said through a yawn she had been attempting to suppress.

"Yes. Go." He gave her a slight nudge. With a sour look that didn't really reach her eyes, Trina trudged up the stairs and disappeared down the hall.

* * *

Aislyn was suspicious when Lucian's driving brought them to a rather secluded little park somewhere in the middle of a gated residential zone. Fences meant nothing to them, though, so they hopped the brick construct as if it were no more than a single step.

It was a rather quiet expanse of tree-littered green – or would have been had the season not been winter. The lawn looked like it would have been well kept by some hired gardener in the warmer months and the trees were surrounded by planter boxes that promised flowers as soon as the ground thawed. Dark houses loomed in the distance but no one was out in the park at that late of an hour.

"What are we doing out here?" Aislyn finally asked when Lucian seemed content to merely wander the grounds.

"Enjoying nature, or as close to it as we can get in the city," he responded simply with a half shrug. "I believe there's a pond nearby." With that, he took her hand and started leading her down a cobble-paved pathway.

Their course meandered slightly until it broke through a line of trees at the far southern end of the park. As Lucian had predicted, a still expanse of water stretched out before them. A tiny dock was set at one side with a boat moored to one of the posts. Benches circled the small pool and it was there that Lucian finally put a rest to their walking.

Sitting, he pulled her down onto the bench between his thighs, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"You're acting oddly tonight," Aislyn commented, leaning back against his chest and laying her hands over his.

"How so?"

"You're very affectionate."

She felt him shift slightly. "My kind typically are."

Aislyn sighed and shook her head. "You're hiding something," she told him bluntly. "This is far more than your usual."

"And you have been trained to be suspicious for far too long," he teased back, nipping at her ear. "Fine, if you wish to ruin this perfect moment I've been trying to achieve tonight, then so be it."

Curious, Aislyn felt him retract one of his arms then return it to its original position around her waist. She glanced down right as he snagged one of her hands and slipped something small and cold around a finger.

Aislyn sat up then bent forward quickly, squinting down at the object incredulously. She started to speak, then shut her mouth, twisted slightly to look at him, then peered back at the ring as if she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Is this…" she started, fingering it lightly with her other hand. "This is my great-grandmother's ring! Where did you-"

"Your father gave it to me," Lucian replied evenly, leaning back slightly to see her better. "I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and I want to make this official in both our cultures."

"Did my mother say anything to you?" Aislyn asked next, not able to stop a smile from tugging at her mouth.

"Not a word," Lucian replied with a slight frown.

Aislyn glanced back down at the ring, the at the lycan, and finally back at the ring again. "Daddy gave this to you," she murmured, suppressing the girlish giggle that was threatening to bubble up. She knew the significance of that and finally let her smile win out over her lack of understanding.

Without another word, she twisted quickly in her spot and threw her arms around Lucian's shoulders, taking him by surprise. In a tangle of arms and legs, they crashed off the stone bench and onto the ground behind it. Blinking at each other, both broken into laughter at the fact that they were no longer seated but instead in an undignified heap in some of their best clothing.

"Aislyn," Lucian murmured seriously, although the smile never left his eyes. "Would you do me the honor of being my wedded wife?"

She snickered back and nodded. "All right."

* * *

Trina blinked rapidly as she tried to figure out what was making that god-awful noise that was reverberating off her eardrums. With a groan, she started to roll over and cover her head with her pillow when the sleepiness vanished abruptly. With a rush, the events of the night came whooshing into the forefront of her mind.

The female rolled out of bed and made the door in a matter of seconds. She yanked it open and looked up into Raze's face. His eyes were almost complete sheets of black and she could smell the andreneline pumping through his veins. She started to form a question but he cut her off with a quick jerk of his head.

"The covens on fire!" he spat quickly, heading away from her door in the same instant. She followed without bothering to close her door, jogging quickly next to him in an attempt to match his monstrously long strides.

"What?" she blurted as they descended the stairs. A quick glance around assured her that the immediate building they occupied was not ablaze.

As they reached the living room, Trina gaped at the frenzy that had gripped the members of the coven. There was activity everywhere; she had a difficult time tracking what exactly was going on. Not knowing what else to do, or what was truly expected of her, Trina stuck to Raze's side like a tiny, blond burr.

"What happened?" she repeated over the din, trying her best not to get run over by frantic lycans and vampires as the combined force was attempting to make their way out of the building.

"There was some sort of explosion near the gate about five minutes ago," Raze explained, sparing her glance before summoning over some of their own pack. "We don't know exactly what's going on but word is being spread for the civilians to take to the cellars."

Trina swallowed slightly and glanced over at Dubas as he and a few others joined them. She spared a look at her watch and nearly gasped.

"Raze, it's past six," she said urgently, tapping the device.

"Aware of that," he muttered darkly. "Part of the reason everyone is trying to figure this out quickly."

Trina fell silent, hurt. She knew Raze tended to be terse and the situation was dire, but his tone was harsher than usual. The young lycan tried not to let it get to her and instead focused on the chaos around them once more.

"If this isn't solved by sun-up, we have a lot of work on our hands," the dark temp-Alpha was saying to the assembled lycans, drawing Trina's attention back to him. "Get out there and help the vampires." He made a gesture and the wolves dispersed quickly, leaving the large man and the small woman standing in the rapidly emptying room.

When Raze turned toward Trina, it took a lot of effort for her not to flinch. "Go get dressed," he told her in a much softer tone than he had previously used. "I'll wait here for you, then we'll go out there together."

Trina's shoulders relaxed and she nodded, disappearing upstairs to change out of her pajamas and into something more suited to the fire-fighting task at hand. She returned to the other lycan in a matter of moments and they started for the door.

"Uncle isn't back yet, is he?" she asked flatly. She saw him shake his head out of the corner of her eye.

"No one has been able to get a hold of either him or Aislyn. And he did not give instructions to where he might go after dinner."

"What about the locator in the car… Aislyn." Trina set her jaw firmly and huffed a bit. "She deactivated it."

"It would seem so," Raze agreed, holding the door open for her into the antechamber.

"You don't think that they've been taken, do you?" she near whispered as the thought suddenly gripped her.

"No," Raze replied firmly, moving across the small room to usher her outside. Their conversation died as Trina caught sight of the orange and yellow glow that filled the complex.

One of the residences at the gate-end was burning steadily, sending thick plumes of smoke into the clear, winter night. The two lycans raced over to the throng that had gathered near it, stopping when they reached the familiar form of Lina. She was just starting to issue orders to those nearby to start a bucket-brigade when her words were drowned out by a sudden, deafening crack.

The lane behind them exploded, shooting stony shrapnel toward the residents. Trina threw her hands up to protect her face and felt the sting of concrete splinters embed themselves in her arms. She bit back a cry of pain and lowered her hands in time to see people running everywhere. There were screams from nearby but she couldn't exactly locate them as her hearing had been muffled from the sound of the explosion.

She staggered to one side, looking wildly around for Raze. She spotted him kneeling over another form and moved quickly to his side. She chanced a look at the face of the prone being and failed to bite off the wail that clawed its way up her throat and out into the air.

Falling to her knees next to the still form of Tekala, Trina made a useless gesture of shaking the vampress' shoulders. The woman's head lolled limply in reply. Unable to speak, the she-lycan sought Raze's eyes then looked down to the chunk of concrete that was embedded in Tekala's still chest. Immortal they may all have been, but no one could recover from a pierced heart.

There was another explosion somewhat further off and Raze reflexively shielded Trina with his body. There were calls nearby stating the obvious: They were under attack.

* * *

Aislyn blinked blurrily a few times than sat up, shedding the long jacket that had been covering her body. She glanced up at the still-dark sky and tried to discern what time it was. The moon was near the horizon, almost below the tree-line surrounding the park. Dawn would be approaching soon and they needed to get out of this park before the earlier rising residents discovered the interlopers.

She twisted slightly to prod Lucian but his eyes were already open and he was stretching in languid contentment. They smiled at one another but didn't speak as they pulled their garments back on and headed back toward the brick fence that separated the park from their car.

As soon as they reached the vehicle, Aislyn sought her purse and started digging through it while Lucian turned on the car and started their drive back toward the coven. He cast a couple glances over at Aislyn while she rummaged.

"What are you looking for?" he finally asked, not masking the amusement in his voice.

"Lip balm. I'm a bit chapped." She sent him a smirk the he couldn't help but share. The night had been a lovely one, one they had rarely gotten a chance to experienced with the craziness of living in the middle of a secret war.

Eventually, the woman found the beeswax based stick. As she applied it, she absently snatched up her phone from the recess of the handbag, glancing at the screen. As Aislyn noted the little red light blinking, indicating she had a voicemail, she pulled the chapstick away from her mouth and pursed her lips a bit.

Tossing the recapped balm into her purse, she dropped the bag at her feet and flipped the phone open to examine the missed call messages. Her eyebrows shot up as she scanned notice after notice from both her mother and her father's numbers. Quickly, she tapped the pad and put the receiver to her ear.

Lucian had watched Aislyn's antics quietly from the driver's seat. "What is it?" he questioned when her face became a dark mask.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Aislyn pressed the speaker button and held it between them while the device ran through the brief messages from both her parents.

"_Hey, it's Mom again. Get home."_

The phone emitted a small beep as she pressed the corresponding button to delete the message.

"_Aislyn, it's your father. Well, of course you know that. It's my voice. Plus these little things tell you whoever calls so you knew it would be me before I started talking…" _There was the muffled sound of Vlad moving the phone away from his mouth and talking to someone in low, quick tones. _"Right, right, get home. Lockdown." _

Beep.

Each call was similar with the message to get home and that they were in some sort of situation that was putting the coven in a state of high alert. Over the sound of the phone, the engine became slightly louder as Lucian's foot pushed the accelerator closer to the floorboard.

Finally, the last message started. Lina's standard spiel uttered itself from the phone. About halfway through, however, there was a long pause. Lina started talking to someone else, the phone far enough away from her mouth to register exact words, but it sounded urgent. Then there was a loud curse in Lina's voice and the line went dead.

Aislyn slowly put the phone back in her purse and turned her gaze to Lucian. He spared her a glance before returning his attention to the road he sped down. Words were useless and they both knew there was nothing they could say that would assuage the sudden dread that sat thick in the car with them.

The ride seemed to take forever. Aislyn kept her eyes fixed on the sky, praying that whatever was happening at home, the sun would not come up before it had been neutralized. Rubbing her forehead with tense fingers, she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Why did we stay out so late?" she eventually murmured, shaking her head. Lucian did not respond more than to thin his lips. There really was nothing he could say. Apologies would be useless as they were both well aware that they could not have anticipated something happening while they were away. Her question was rhetorical, anyway and she had not expected an answer.

After an eternity, they hit roads that were more familiar. Lucian's foot pressed even further down on the peddle as their path became more known. It was early enough in the morning that traffic was not yet that busy, and those cars already on the road were passed without much hassle.

As they approached the complex, Aislyn frowned. The street was more or less abandoned besides the usual happenings of their neighborhood. The walls of the complex looked dark and quiet, the sidewalk unoccupied by any potential gawkers.

Cautiously, Lucian turned the car toward the coven's front gate, tapping the button on the visor that would open the wrought iron. He quickly hit the brakes when the gates did not budge.

The lycan and the vampire exchanged puzzled glances. Lucian put the car in park and they both exited the vehicle. Together, both with senses on high alert, they approached the stubbornly not-open gate. Aislyn took a pace or two further than Lucian in order to grip the iron. Her hand, however, was stopped before her fingers even reached the gate.

"A barrier," she growled, whipping around to look at her mate. His brows knit together as his eyes darted around them.

"Can you break it, like at that park?" he asked.

"I can try," she replied, half jogging back toward the car. She pulled out her purse and dug out a pair of new, plain brown gloves. Once set on her hands, she moved back to the barrier and started drawing symbols in the air in front of her, lips pressed tightly together as she concentrated.

"I don't recognize any signature from the caster," she muttered as she worked, frowning deeply at the invisible barrier preventing them from getting into their own home. "It's not being cast by our side."

Lucian let worry momentarily grace his features before schooling it out of his mind. He had faith that Aislyn would be able to get them in. Until then, there was no use fretting over what they would find.

The seconds ticked by while Aislyn silently probed and prodded at the spelled wall. Just as Lucian was starting to feel the twinges of annoyed impatience, the woman gasped a slight 'a-ha.' His eyes were drawn to her hands as there was a slight flash of blue.

"That should do it. We can walk through." She turned her blood-gaze to him and resisted the urge to bite her lip. Lucian merely nodded back and looked at the false image of a closed gate, bracing himself for whatever lay beyond.


	13. Escape

**AN:** I suppose this chapter could be called "The Trina and Dubas Show!" with how much I've concentrated on them. Oh well. I felt it a good way to move the story to where I want it.

Additional: I have operated this chapter on the "Hollywood Law of Mechanics." Given enough know-how, you can hot-wire a goat and defy physics. So deal! ^_^

**Chapter Thirteen: Escape**

It was chaos. The ground shook as homemade bombs smashed into the pavement, sending shrapnel flying into the crowd that scrambled to find order. In the middle of the confused shuffle, Lina's voice hollered above the din. Within moments she had groups organized into squads, commanders picked out, and runners dashing for weaponry. Many members of the fighting force, having already been on high alert, had their guns drawn shortly after the first blast.

Civilians that had been out watching the house burn had quickly been ushered into the nearest house and down into the underground. They had already lost one non-combatant and Lina was not about to lose another if she could help it. She took a quick glance at Tekala's body then starting yelling orders for the protection of their civilians. Preserving their people was the top priority. She would mourn later; now was not the time to dwell on such matters.

Shortly after the third or fourth blast came the first wave of people. Gunfire filled the air, along with the battle cries from both sides. The combatants launched themselves at one another with little disregard for life.

Trina had just managed to evade gunfire, seeking refuge behind a large tree, when Lina skid into the shrubs next to her, coldly reloading a gun from a clip she pulled from her belt.

A string of expletives spat from Lina's mouth as a round of bullets thunked into the tree.

"Who is it?" Trina managed to ask once the rattling ceased.

"Mixed Hunters and Slayers, just like Christmas," Lina snarled. The vampire took a moment to survey the sky then looked back at Trina. "How the hell did they find us? We were _masked._"

"Mason." Trina ground out, shaking her head. "Has to be Mason."

A look of confusion flicked across Lina's face momentarily. Apparently Vlad had not shared this information with Lina before the attack broke out. "We'll talk about this later. We have more important things going on right now." Lina stood from her crouch and glanced around. So far they seemed well hidden in the bushes under the tree.

"Listen," Lina started hastily. "I need you to do something very important for me. Can I trust it to you?"

Trina returned Lina's earnest look, bottom lip held between her teeth as she stared at the blood-eyed woman. "What is it?"

"The sun is going to come up," Lina stated grimly. "Once it does, we'll be sitting ducks. There's a good chance we're going to lose a lot of people. We're the only ones left, Trina, the only ones of our kind."

The she-wolf nodded her understanding but waited for Lina to actually ask what the favor was. Whatever the task, Trina was already sure she would do it to the best of her ability.

"All the civilians, the _children_, are holed up underground right now. Trina, there is a second layer, a deeper basement we built in the off chance we were ever discovered-"

"But Vlad said there was no escape route, no backup plan," Trina blurted before she could stop herself.

Lina shook her head. "When did he tell you that?"

"Earlier tonight... I suggested we evacuate just in case Mason tried something. Vlad said there was nowhere to go."

Lina sighed. "This is not commonly known information and he probably didn't feel it necessary to divulge it to you." She laughed suddenly and derisively, "Our kind didn't survive hundreds of years without a contingency plan. We have about twelve different ways to escape if necessary. Right now, though, that's not the point. Just understand what I say now and don't question me. Come on."

The vampress motioned for the young woman to follow. When there was a slight lull in the sounds of fighting, the two dashed across the open space between the tree and a near-by home. Lina wrenched open the door and waved Trina in before her. Once inside, Lina turned to the werewolf and took a deep breath.

"I need you to gather a couple of trusted members of your pack, ones that you don't think would be threatening. Once you have them, bring them back here."

"Wha-" Trina started but Lina cut her off with a stern shake of her head.

"Go, now, and do as I have asked."

Trina swallowed heavily, nodded, and vanished back outside the house. She looked around frantically for a moment, trying to find anyone that met the description of 'non-threatening.' That wasn't going to be easy with a pack that was trained to kill and looked like they crawled out of an Alice Cooper concert.

Her initial thought was that she needed to find Raze but it didn't take long for her to decide he would be a terrible choice when she was aiming for "unintimidating." Biting her lip, she ran out into the fray, dodging between groups of grappling humans and vampires. Somewhere nearby, a lycan from some other pack transformed and started tearing the limbs off a hapless Slayer.

Trina scented the air as she moved, trying to pick up some scent that would give her an idea of what she wanted. Someone not scary, someone that was not threatening. She growled slightly in frustration. She was about the least frightening member of the entire London Packs. Who the hell could she find that would do any good in this situation?

"Dubas!" Trina caught a smell in the air she knew as well as any other. He may have been tall, gangling, and perhaps a bit scraggly, but he also had one arm in a sling. Injured was perhaps as close to "not-scary" as she was going to get.

Trina changed direction mid-stride and followed the odor as it wafted around the crowded street. After a moment of ducking and weaving, she spotted him near the manor house. He stood near Raze, his mostly dead arm hanging uselessly at his side as he bludgeoned a human with something in his other hand.

Approaching, she noted it was a gun and wondered briefly why he didn't just shoot it. When the gaunt wolf finally admitted the human was dead, he dropped the weapon on top of the body and turned to find the next victim. Apparently, his gun was empty and thus more suited as a club.

"Trina," Raze grunted as she reached them.

The young lady glanced between Raze and Dubas. "I need you to come with me," she told the thin werewolf firmly. She cast a glance at Raze that held a great deal of apology. "Lina's got a job for us. She's in that house." Trina pointed toward the building Lina occupied.

Dubas glanced at Raze. The dark man nodded and Dubas took off toward the house, leaving the youngest member with the temporary alpha. When Raze looked askance at Trina she gazed helplessly back.

"She wants me to find some wolves that don't look threatening," she explained, then waved her arm around to indicate that's why she chose Dubas.

"What is she up to?" Raze asked, following Trina as she started back toward the house.

"I think she's intending to evacuate," Trina replied.

"Vlad said-"

"I know," Trina interrupted. "But she's telling me otherwise and right now, I'm inclined to hope that she's right that there is a way."

When they reached the house, Raze followed her into the livingroom where Dubas stood with Lina. The vampire looked up and frowned at the large man with Trina.

"I thought I said to avoid 'scary,'" Lina said reproachfully.

"I'm only here to find out what's going on," Raze explained. "I believe I would be better used here."

Lina nodded and looked between Trina and Dubas. "Two of you should be enough, I hope."

"What is the plan?" Raze voiced with a trace of impatience. Considering it was nearly impossible for Raze to say anything with any sort of emotion, he was obviously eager to get on with whatever was supposed to be happening.

"Under the complex, beneath the basement level, there is another level," Lina began without any hesitation. "There are access points throughout the houses' basements where the civilians are currently holed up. We need to get them down into the tunnels and out of the complex."

"The sun will be up in a couple hours," Trina murmured nervously.

"There is a chance we can get them into a safe house but it probably won't be until tomorrow night. You'll have to go by foot, we don't have cars at the exit point."

"And that is where?" Dubas spoke up, cradling his arm against his chest.

"It emerges in a boiler room a number of kilometers from here, in an old hotel. Along the way there are some security measures that you will need to bypass in order to proceed without incident."

"It's booby-trapped," Raze growled.

"To put it bluntly, yes. We couldn't risk anyone stumbling into our complex and discovering we're here." Lina nodded briefly at the large male then returned her attention to the other two.

"How many?" Dubas asked next in his usual terse manner.

"At least a dozen." Lina motioned for them to follow her as she exited the room through a door leading toward the rear of the house. They found themselves in a kitchen and Lina instantly started tapping on the wood-paneling. Eventually, they heard an odd thunk that was slightly different.

Lina pulled a butter knife out of a nearby drawer and pried at the panel until it popped up out if place. Underneath it was a small cubby-space not much larger than a loaf of bread. She dug around in the darkness and pulled out a sheet of paper. She stood and pressed the floorboard back into place with her foot while she surveyed the scrap in her hand.

"This," she said, turning it around and presenting it to Dubas, "is a list of the locations of all the traps, what they do, and how to trigger or disarm them."

"Why is it in this house?" Trina asked as she peered around the lanky wolf at the paper. "Why not the manor?"

Lina sighed. "In the off chance that something should happen to the house, there are copies of this hidden around the complex. The locations of them are known only by a few of the members. Many of those you will be escorting don't even know about the deeper tunnel system."

"And how many will we be taking?" Dubas' next expected question came as he studied the list.

"There should be at least 23, mostly children and a few guardians. Many of them have parents out fighting right now," Lina informed them. "I think between you two and the adults, there should be enough of you to corral the children around."

Lina started to head out of the kitchen and toward the front door of the house. She did her stamping dance around the living room as she had in the kitchen. After a moment, she found a spot that did not sound like the others and crouched down next to it. Using her knuckles, she rapped a distinctly rhythmic pattern on the hardwood.

The seconds ticked by as nothing happened. Then, slowly, a panel of floor opened to reveal a pale-faced woman. She looked relieved to see Lina and opened her mouth to talk. The matron shook her head quickly, cutting her off.

"You know Trina and Dubas," Lina stated. The woman nodded, glancing at the werewolves. "They will be escorting you and the others out of the complex. You and the other adults are to do exactly as they say and aid them in any way possible. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes," the woman stammered, obviously bewildered at the news.

"Good. Now down the ladder. Move, move." Lina shooed the woman down and climbed in after her, indicating the wolves should follow.

Before Trina descended, Raze took a firm hold of her shoulders. "Be careful," he murmured. She nodded, and then followed after Lina. The large wolf turned next to Dubas. "Take care of her," he said simply, then turned and left the house to rejoin the fighting outside where he would be of far more use than trying to jam himself down the cramped hidey-hole.

Once everyone was at the bottom of the ladder, Lina tugged on a lever and the trapdoor sealed itself above them.

Trina took a moment to look around once her eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the surprisingly Spartan chamber. It held a few chairs that were occupied by some children, their ages ranging from about six to nine. They stared back at her silently, scared. The smell of fear was fairly thick and the lycan did her best to ignore it.

"Now, when you say 'out of the complex,'" the woman started.

Lina cut her off by raising her hand. "We have some passages underneath here that will take you to a location outside of the complex. The sun approaches and I fear what will happen if you're stuck down here after that. The more time I spend talking to you know, the less time you'll have to get out."

Lina strode across the room to an unassuming corner and prodded around in the darkness. There was a slight click and a portion of the wall pushed inward, then slid to one side. By the look on the other vampire's face, this was an unknown door. It revealed a flight of stairs going down into darkness.

"Go," Lina ordered, pointing into the dark. "You'll find flashlights attached to the wall. On that map I gave you there are markers to show where the other civilian basements are. Get them all and get out of here. I'll try to get as many combatants out by our other exits before that sun comes up."

Dubas nodded briefly and headed into the darkness without a backwards glance. The pale-faced vampress followed, a child clinging to each hand, leaving Trina, Lina, and the nine-year-old in the barren room. The she-wolf ushered the eldest through the doorway but was waylaid by Lina before following the rest. Something hard and square was pressed into Trina's hand and she glanced between it and the vampire curiously.

"What is this?" she asked, frowning.

"My PDA," Lina supplied.

"Well, yes, I can see that," Trina replied. "Why are you giving it to me?" she reiterated.

Lina pulled something small from a compartment hidden behind her belt. She held it up to show Trina. It looked like a tiny metal pill. Then, much to the lycan's surprise, Lina swallowed it.

"Uhm-"

"That is a tracking device," Lina interrupted. "It is linked to my PDA. Trina, I have one last favor to ask of you."

Trina swallowed heavily at Lina's gravity but nodded firmly. "Anything."

"If we do not show up in that boiler room by next nightfall, I want you to take everyone to Daisy's Dry-Cleaning in my address book. Then, once safely there, I want you to come find us. You will be able to track me via that PDA and then help to transfer me and whoever is with me to the Dry-Cleaners."

Trina licked her lips nervously. "Daisy's. Got it." She stared down at the little personal data assistant then slipped it into her jacket's pocket. "You might end up at a different safe house then?"

"Yeah, and if I don't show up at the hotel, or at Daisy's, then I'm stuck. We need to regroup as soon as possible. Follow the tracking device. With hope, it'll still be in my system." At that, Lina let her characteristic smirk shine through the gloom. Trina relaxed slightly then started for the tunnel.

"One more thing," Lina spoke again quickly. Confused, Trina turned back. "Take this, too. Hide it, keep it safe."

Trina watched silently as Lina started fumbling with laces on her armguard. The vampress pulled it off her arm and pressed it into Trina's hands.

"But, won't you need it?" Trina asked, flabbergasted.

"If I die out there," Lina replied with a seriousness that sent shivers up the lycan's back, "I will not allow it to fall into Helena's hands. Don't tell anyone you have it. I know you trust Dubas with your life, and I'm apt to trust my own people, too. But we have a Mole in this complex and only an assumption that it is Mason."

"How do you know I'm not the Mole?" Trina blurted.

Lina laughed in the back of her throat a few times. She placed both her hands on Trina's shoulders and squeezed them warmly. "Honey, if you were capable of such an act, I'd eat my pants. Now, go."

Trina returned the smile and, acting on a sudden impulse, pulled Lina into a hug. Then she spun and ran off into the darkness of the doorway.

Lina stood in the empty room for a moment, gathering herself. Then she closed off the secret doorway and left the house to rejoin the fray outside.

* * *

Trina counted heads quickly, satisfied that they had everyone. In the glow of the battery-powered torches, pale, pointed faces stared at the two wolves with mixtures of fear and uncertainty.

"What about my mum?" one of the children asked, voice wavering. Trina felt a tug on her jacket and she instinctively placed a hand on the child's head.

"Lina is working to get everyone out to other safe places," the she-lycan said gently, stoking the little girl's hair. "We'll all meet up as soon as we can, alright?" Trina almost convinced herself but knew better than to hope that many of these children's parents would ever come back. She wasn't going to dwell on that, however. She and Dubas had a job to do.

With the male leading the way with the list of traps, Trina brought up the rear of their parade. She rubbed subconsciously at the front of her jacket. Concealed beneath her shirt, half tucked down the front of her pants, was the Animus armguard. Satisfied that it was still safely in place, Trina turned her mind to monitoring their surroundings.

The tunnel system was surprisingly advanced. There were many offshoots and forks in their path. Without the map Lina had given Dubas, they would have been lost within minutes. Trina wondered where the other trails went but pushed it out of her mind. She trusted Dubas to lead them in the right direction and instead concentrated on making sure there was no one following them.

They proceeded with as much speed as they dared, stopping only long enough to disarm and then rearm the traps. No one commented on Dubas' insistence that they reset the security. It stood to reason that a member of the coven was far more likely to make it through with traps armed than an intruder was. At the very least, it had the potential of slowing down any unfriendly pursuers.

Trina did her best not to continually check her watch as they went. In the darkness of the dank stone tunnels, time was difficult to measure. For all she knew, it was sun-up already. Distance, too, was deceptive, even for someone who grew up underground as she did. She wasn't sure how long they walked or how far. Eventually, the younger children started to tire but they dared not stop to rest. By the time they reached the twelfth trap, every adult and some of the older children were carrying the youngest. Even the lycans had their arms full of fledgling vampire, although in Dubas' case, he carried the toddler piggy-back as he could not hold her with his dead arm.

After their brief pause to pass the trap, Trina picked up the child she had taken charge of and balanced him on her hip. She checked behind the group, satisfied herself that they were still not being followed. They moved on.

It came almost as a surprise when their path became blocked by a heavy metal door. It took both Dubas and one of the adult vampires to turn the huge, circular wheel that acted as a locking mechanism. Like the vault of a bank, the portal swung slowly open to reveal more darkness beyond. Everyone was ushered quickly inside then the door was closed and sealed once more.

Standing in the small chamber beyond, Trina set the child down and swept the beam of her flashlight around, taking stock of their new temporary abode. It was as Lina had said: an old, abandoned boiler room. Most likely the hotel had given it up in favor of newer methods. For some reason, though, they hadn't remodeled it and chose, instead, to build their new heating system one level above.

The room itself was covered in dust, cobwebs, and rat droppings. Boxes of God-knew-what were stacked all over the neglected chamber. The adults wasted little time brushing off surfaces for everyone to sit on. It may have been disgusting, but it was safe and that was all that currently mattered.

It was after everyone was settled that Trina chanced a glance at her watch. Dubas appeared by her side, his burden also now absent.

"What time is it?" he asked hoarsely.

"Just past eight," Trina replied quietly, rubbing her hands together slightly. The basement was chilly now that they had stopped moving.

"Sun's up, then." Dubas shifted in the dark. "Our charges should get some sleep. I'll guard this door if you guard that one." The male lycan jerked his head at the other side of the room where a door into the hotel stood. Trina nodded her agreement to that plan then headed over to her indicated station. It would be a long day.

* * *

"You seem nervous," Dubas muttered. Trina looked up as the lanky wolf sunk down to the ground next to her. Like her, he pressed his back to the hotel door. On the other side of the room, one of the adult vampresses had taken up residence against the door leading into the tunnel system. She claimed she wasn't able to sleep and wanted to be useful. Dubas wasn't going to deny her if she was going to be helpful.

Trina glanced at her watch again and shook herself slightly. "It's getting late," she muttered in an undertone. "Lina's not here yet. I'm worried."

Dubas was silent for a long moment. "There is a chance," he spoke softly, "That we are it."

Trina let her head drop into her hands briefly before lifting her chin. She shook her head firmly from side to side a couple times then fixed her gaze on the vague outline of Dubas. "I can't believe that," she told him stubbornly. "At the very least, the daywalkers will make it. And Uncle and Aislyn, too. They weren't back by the time we left. They might not even come back until after the fight. They'll be alive."

Trina felt Dubas pat her knee a couple times. He didn't reply, though, and she wasn't expecting him to say more. He wasn't typically a vocal creature.

The late afternoon passed quietly. The lycans slept a little, propping themselves against one another by the hotel door. They figured they would wake up should anyone try to come through that door and they needed to rest after being awake for nearly twenty-four hours. They may have been immortal but they still needed to regain energy.

When Trina finally awoke, her watched indicated the sun would have set. She stood from her place and stretched slightly. Dubas stood as well, mimicking her motions.

"No Lina," Trina murmured, glancing around their temporary encampment. She went to check with the woman leaning against the far door. The vampire confirmed that there had been no movement on the tunnel side.

"We need to eat," the woman informed Trina. "Especially the children."

Trina nodded her understanding. "Soon," she promised then returned to Dubas' side. She pulled him back to the far door, away from where the twenty-some-odd vampires were stirring from their daytime slumber. She relayed to him the information she gained from the female vampire, then pulled something from her pocket, passing it into his good hand.

"A PDA?" he asked, turning it over in his hand a few times. "What's with this?"

"It's Lina's. She said if she did not arrive here by nightfall, we were to take the vampires to Daisy's Dry-Cleaning. The address is in the PDA. The sun's been down an hour. We need to find a way to transport everyone and get them something to eat. They'll be impossible to move if they're too weak to walk. We can't carry all of them."

"I know that," Dubas nearly snapped. He passed the device back to the young woman and then stared over the top of her head at the gathered vampires. "Stay here a moment. I'm going to take a look upstairs and see what I can find."

Trina pocketed the gadget once more and watched silently as Dubas pulled the rusty door open. He vanished into another dark room and the door closed behind him. She hated having to wait for him to return but knew better than to leave the others to follow him. She did explain to them where he had gone shortly after he left, then Trina settled down to await his return.

She did not have to wait long. When the door opened, Trina jumped up, muscles screaming to fight but the feeling vanished when she realized it was just Dubas. He rushed over to her, leaving the door ajar behind him.

"Everyone, gather up. I have a plan," he announced upon reaching the younger lycan. Once they had all assembled, he continued. "There's a service entrance upstairs, not too conspicuous if we move quickly and quietly. Outside of that door is the hotel's back parking lot where they have their own vehicles. They have one of those big vans, the kind they take to airports."

Trina's brows shot up. "How big?"

"If we have a lot of lap sitting, we can stuff everyone in."

"Keys?" one of the vampires questioned.

Dubas merely laughed but did not elaborate. He motioned toward the door. "Let's get going. We only have so much nighttime and I don't know where this dry-cleaner is."

In a matter of minutes the entire entourage was bustled out of the dark room and through the other storage space beyond the door. They slunk up the stairs on silent feet, carrying the youngest members of the troop so they could move as quickly as possible. Dubas checked the way to make sure it was clear while Trina hurried along everyone from behind. They passed through what looked like a large laundry room to a set of metal doors set into the back wall.

The doors led outside as Dubas said they would. Soon the entire party was standing in the shadows behind the hotel, blinking up at the clear, cold night sky. Nearby, parked in a spot labeled 'shuttle only' was the vehicle Dubas had mentioned. The male opened the large, sliding side door and ushered the vampires inside. It took a moment of confused shuffling before everyone found some space to cram themselves. The smaller children sat on the laps of their elders and a few of the older children squeezed down onto the floorboards between the knees of the adults. No one asked how it was the doors were unlocked; Dubas seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

Once the vampires were settled, Dubas motioned Trina over to the driver's seat. "Can you drive a stick?" he asked in an undertone. She shook her head.

"I can't even drive," she told him honestly. "Grandfather hardly let me out of the underground."

The older lycan's lips thinned to white lines. He poked his head into the backseat and repeated his question. He was met with the blank stares of the vampires and a few slowly shaken heads. Dubas cursed under his breath in Romanian then returned his gaze to Trina. "Time to learn to be a big girl," he growled. "I sure as Hell can't shift with my arm. Damn backwards Brits." Dubas glared momentarily at the left-handed stick shift then returned his attention to Trina. "I take it you can't hotwire a car, either?"

Trina merely gave him a flat look in return. It went without saying that she didn't know how to do that.

"Here, get under the dash. I'm going to talk you through it." Dubas jerked his chin at the driver's side floorboard and Trina obediently wriggled into place on her back.

It took longer than they really wanted to waste, but without any other option besides going back into the basement, both lycans worked diligently to get the proper wires cut and crossed. Despite her inexperience, Trina's hands were small enough to work in the cramped space and she had a natural dexterity that proved useful. As the car roared to life, Dubas bit back a whoop of excitement then went around the vehicle and climbed into the passenger's seat. Trina buckled herself in behind the wheel then looked at Dubas for further instruction.

Their progress was shaky at first. Trina miraculously managed not to stall the vehicle, which would mean they would have had to repeat the hotwiring process. Getting out of the parking lot proved slightly harrowing but things went much more smoothly once they had pulled onto the main road running by the hotel.

Dubas clutched the PDA in his good hand, having taken it from Trina before they left. He navigated according to the built-in GPS while Trina did her best not to get them stuck on any hills. Other than the occasional rumble of the male's voice, the car was draped in silence. Trina could smell their fear and she kept one eye on the position of the moon, praying it would be dark long enough to get to "Daisy's."

* * *

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Trina asked as she gazed around the surroundings with trepidation. They had left the bulk of the city. Houses had started to become sparser some time ago, property was larger and surrounded by brick walls. "I don't think a dry-cleaners would be way the heck out in the country."

"Rich people have more to dry-clean?" Dubas supplied, frowning at the neighborhood they drove through. He shook his head and consulted the PDA. "This says we're right."

"Okay, then," Trina replied without conviction. She glanced up at the moon again. It was on its downward course already. She chanced a look at the clock on the dash: just past midnight. They had been on the road a couple hours.

The she-lycan became increasingly worried when they left civilization behind entirely. The grassy expanses on either side were dotted with the occasional tree but Trina did not see any lights indicating occupation. If they didn't come upon something before the sun came up, they'd be transporting a whole heck of a lot of dust.

Just when Trina was about to question the PDA again, Dubas grunted that they needed to take a right at the very next road. It turned out to be a gravel path more than anything else and Trina slowly trundled down it, gripping the large steering wheel firmly as it shook in her hands. As they followed a curve around a small hill, a light flared to life a head of them. It was hidden as the road took them behind another hill, then reappeared as they turned back toward the source. A few moments later and they sat idling in front of an immense set of iron-wrought gates.

"Wait here." Dubas slipped out of the car and up to the gate. He tested them carefully and, much to his surprise, he found them unlocked. He pushed the monstrosities open then got back into the van.

"I don't think this is right," Trina started as Dubas urged her to drive through. "Lina said it was supposed to be a dry-cleaner."

"No, she said we were to go to the address listed as a dry-cleaner. Trina, I think this is the real location. Go on." The other wolf pointed down the path with his good hand. Trina swallowed heavily then nodded. Slowly, the van rolled forward, gravel crunching under the heavy wheels.

The drive curved around a few large trees before it brought them before the house held within the gates. It was considerably larger than the Victorian Vlad owned. Although the land wasn't as large as the complex, there was little doubt most of the coven would fit in this mansion of a building.

Trina let the car stall in front of the entry and opened her door. She slipped out and stretched slightly before turning and opening the sliding door of the van. Slowly and stiffly, the occupants piled out until everyone stood gawking up at the huge building.

"Vampires live here," Dubas growled suddenly from Trina's side. The young lycan jumped slightly then looked at him.

"What?"

"I can smell them." Dubas sniffled slightly. Trina followed suit then frowned.

"I don't smell it," she started.

"That's because you're used to these kind." Dubas jerked his chin at the huddled Genetics behind them. "These," he indicated the house. "These smell like Viktor."

Trina stared at the building for a long moment. "Why haven't they come out?" she asked finally. "If this were Vlad's people, we'd be surrounded by now."

Dubas merely shrugged. "Maybe they're hoping we'll think they aren't home and we'll go away?"

"Fat chance of that happening." Trina squared her shoulders. "This is where Lina wanted us to go. If those are vampires in there then they have blood, and these children are hungry."

With more authority than she realized she could muster, Trina marched herself up to the front door and pushed her finger against the doorbell. An eerie chiming met her ears and she glanced back once at the group. They had moved up into the light cast from the bulb on the porch, just a step down from where she stood.

There was a click from the door and Trina returned her gaze to her front. Slowly, the door was drawn open to reveal a young-looking woman with the bright blue eyes of a Viral. She sized Trina up quickly. The eyes widened. And then the woman screamed.

* * *

Aislyn stood in the center of the road, oblivious to the warmth of the early-morning sunshine, staring around her as her stomach dropped into her knees. Nearby, silent as a statue, Lucian turned a body over and examined the face. He stood then carefully stepped over a pile of dust that would never be truly identified. In the distance, moving around the complex's streets with the same intent of identifying bodies, were members of the Packs. Aislyn was pretty certain the large hulk of a person in the distance was Raze but she was fairly beyond caring.

The attack had ended shortly after the sun had come up. For reasons unknown, the mixed group of Hunters and Slayers had retreated as the first rays hit the still-fighting occupants of the coven. No one knew how many had died or how many had made it out of the complex.

Shortly after arriving into the fray, Aislyn had found her mother. Lina explained that she had sent Trina and Dubas with the children and was now trying to spread the word to get as many evacuated as they could before the sun came up. Aislyn chose to stay and occupy the enemies while others fled the complex, disappearing into neighbor's yards and even into the sewer system.

Aislyn gazed dejectedly down at another pile of ash. Not everyone made it into darkness before the sun came up.

A touch on her arm brought Aislyn back to awareness of her surroundings. Lucian stood there, a grim expression on his face.

"Ais," he spoke softly. "There is something you should see."

He led her toward the blackened rubble of the house that had been lit first. Near a crater in the ground was a bundle of body.

"Oh, God." Aislyn's hand covered her mouth as she sank to her knees beside the body of her fallen sister. The young woman checked Tekala's pulse as if there was any hope that the elder vampress would still be alive. She groped at the older woman's body, temporarily lost. Then, not sure what else to do, she looked up at Lucian. The lycan stooped long enough to pull Aislyn to her feet and wrap her in his arms.

"We need to find the others," he murmured into her hair. "We cannot undo what has been done."

Aislyn slowly nodded, burying her face in his shoulder. Then she pushed away and wiped her cheeks off with her sleeve. She would have to cry later; there were more important things to do now.

Lucian gathered the wolves together with a few barked commands that were quickly passed around. The small ensemble stood around their king and queen while Aislyn tried to put to order what needed to be done.

"We're cloaked still by the enemy's witches but I can feel the seals weakening as the casters get further away. As soon as they fail the neighbors will see the smoke. There's going to be human emergency crews here looking for survivors. We can't have them discovering the bodies or there will be too many questions. Gather the dead together into one of the burnt houses. We need to burn them before things get out of hand. There's no time for ceremony; burn the humans with our own."

The crowd quickly dispersed with their orders, leaving the vampire and elder lycan standing alone in the middle of the street. "We need to start locating our survivors," Aislyn said to Lucian, fingering a dark lock of hair that fluttered loosely around her face. "Mother told me where she was sending the children but I don't know if the others knew the meeting point. I'm going to start making some phone calls."

Lucian nodded. "I'm going to poke around the buildings a bit," he returned. "There may still be someone hiding in one of them, especially the one we're going to burn. I want to make sure it's truly empty first." They exchanged a quick peck then Lucian ran off toward the designated burial pyre, disappearing through the charred doorway.

* * *

"It's night."

Vlad looked up from where he sat brooding. The Viral stepped down into the cellar, closing the door firmly behind her. Her disturbingly icy eyes glanced at the small gathering huddled together in the tiny space.

"Good." Vlad stood from the box he had claimed as a chair and motioned for the others to do likewise. "If we move quickly, we can get to one of our caravan trucks before the sun comes up." His bloody gaze swept his people and landed on the sullen form of Nagire. The younger man had stuffed himself in a corner and had spent the entirety of the day staring blankly into nothingness. With a long sigh, Vlad nudged his son into alertness and jerked his head toward the door. "Time to go," the elder murmured gently. Nagire merely nodded mutely, shouldered a rifle, and made his way toward the door.

Their group quickly exited the hidey-hole and emerged into the backyard of a condemned home. The members of the party were all combatants, numbering twelve including the two Tepes, Saline, and Michael. With military precision, they surveyed their surroundings to make sure the coast was clear, then set off at a very quick walk in the direction Vlad led them.

They kept to the shadows and back alleyways the best they could. Whenever a car came into view, they scattered and hid until the vehicle was out of sight. Nerves were strung tightly and no one spoke more than two words to each other as they proceeded through the frigid night air.

"How much further?" Michael crouched down next to Vlad as the group paused to rest. His eyes, fully blackened from the adrenaline-rush of the situation, turned up toward the moon, trying to gauge the time.

The vampire glanced at the hybrid, lips thin. "Another couple kilometers, not much more," Vlad assured the creature. "We have time."

Michael nodded his understanding and shifted slightly to get more comfortable. "Everyone knows where to go?" he asked next, not hiding his concern.

Vlad didn't respond at first, staring out from behind the bushes they occupied. "As long as Lina's message reached everyone, then yes. It's just a matter of if they make it before…" the lord's words trailed off and he made a vague gesture with one hand.

There was movement nearby and both men froze instinctively. Then the black-on-black solidified into Selene and they relaxed. The Viral knelt down near Michael and addressed Vlad. "They're ready."

Vlad nodded once then stood from his place. With a quick motion to the others, they proceeded into the darkness.

* * *

Trina fought down the urge to strangle the vampress in front of her. Within moments, the door had been flung wide open. The screaming idiot was yanked backwards by some men and guns were produced. Trina stared irritably down the barrel of a loaded shotgun before she could get out more than an "Uhm."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot your ass right here," the owner of the shotgun barked, shifting the weapon more firmly against his shoulder. Trina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. After being around fighters for the last month, she could tell this man probably hadn't ever shot the gun he held, at least not at a living creature. She could smell his fear – and bubblegum. She shoved the suddenly humorous smell out of her mind and concentrated on the seriousness of the problem at hand. As inexperienced as this man probably was, there as a good chance of him accidentally squeezing that trigger before any misunderstanding could be straightened out.

"Does Daisy live here?" Trina asked instead of making excuses for her presence. She noticed the corner of his eyes twitch every so slightly. "I have been sent to find Daisy," she continued.

"What business have you here?" the vampire demanded more firmly, eyes narrowing at her.

Trina reached behind her and closed her fingers around a tiny arm. She drew the child forward onto the stoop with her and raised a single brow at the man with the gun. "Very important business. And if you don't at least let us in before the sun comes up, this little girl's life will be on your hands and I will rip your head from your body."

For a tense minute, the man's gun remained in position to remove Trina's brain from its protective bone casing. Meanwhile, the vampire's blue eyes flicked between the lycan's face and that of the frightened child. Then, as if just then realizing Trina wasn't alone, the man shifted to look past the she-wolf at the rag-tag assortment of vampires crowding around Dubas.

"Inside, then," the vampire snapped, jerking his gun around to point it into the building. "But you lycans keep your hands where I can bloody-well see them."

Trina wanted to let out the deep breath she had been holding but kept it inside. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she passed the threshold into the mansion. It took a lot of energy for her to act more bad-ass than she really was. She was just glad the vampire was too inexperienced to call her bluff.

Trina gazed around the opulent sitting room when the entirety of their party was safely within the walls of the house. It put the manor back at the complex to shame.

It had the usual grandeur of a Viral's house. The wooden floors were covered with plush crimson and gold rugs. Couches, loveseats, and loungers sat throughout the room. Vampires sprawled over them like contented housecats, their fancy clothing sparkling in the chandelier light like a dozen fireflies dancing in a jar. They recoiled as the lycans entered but their curled lips were quickly replaced by baffled curiosity at the sight of the petrified vampires that accompanied the wolves. For a long moment, no one spoke as the occupants and the interlopes exchanged hesitant looks.

"Would someone please explain why I have been interrupted from my meditation when I gave instructions that no one should disturb me?"

Heads turned toward a set of double doors placed into the far right-hand side of the room. The doors had been thrown open and standing in the center of the entry, her thin, pale arms akimbo against her silky, red dress, was a vampress that exuded authority from every pore. Her blond hair was gathered up into a severe bun on the back of her head. A black shawl was thrown across her otherwise bare shoulders and draped itself over her arms at the elbow. She was a picture of refinement.

The newcomer strode across the room, her heels muffled only by the soft rugs beneath her feet. She moved with the assurance authority gave and stopped hardly more than a breath from Trina. The tall woman stared hard into the green eyes of the lycan. Trina returned the candid look with one of her own, squaring her shoulders. She would not be intimidated.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded, shifting her weight in a way that threw her hip to one side. The vampress folded her arms across her middle in a gesture that smacked of impatience.

"Are you Daisy?" Trina questioned back.

There was silence. The woman tilted her head to one side. Her eyes, that same blue typical for the Virals, faded to her normal pale blue. The transition put the woman in a completely different posture. Suddenly, the hostility that had been wafting off the vampire was gone, replaced with an honest concern.

"Charles," she said sharply, motioning toward the vampire with the shotgun. "Please take these children and their guardians to the kitchen. They look half-starved. You," she turned back to Trina then flicked her eyes at Dubas. "You two have some explaining to do."

Without another word, she turned and headed back toward the double doors that still stood open. Trina and Dubas quickly followed her through the opening into a wide hallway. They passed through a few corridors and up a set of stairs before their hostess ushered them into what could potentially be mistaken for an indoor jungle. The small study they found themselves standing in was jammed full of houseplants.

"Please, sit." The woman motioned to a couple chairs nearby. Obediently, the lycans pulled the chairs over to the desk as the vampire seated herself behind it in her own chair. For a moment, they regarded one another without saying a word.

"You are Daisy?" Trina broke the silence, repeating her previous question.

"I am known as Daisy, yes." The vampress tilted her head slightly. "And you are?"

"Trina," the she-wolf supplied. "This is Dubas." She jerked her thumb at the older lycan who merely nodded once sharply.

"And how is it that you have brought us such visitors?" Daisy shifted in her chair, steepling her fingers on top of the desk.

"We come from a coven south of here," Trina started carefully.

"How unconventional," Daisy interrupted. "I was under the belief that your kind were no longer considered safe to have as pets."

A low growl broke from Dubas' throat but Trina gripped his knee quickly. Her gaze did not waiver from Daisy's, however. The sound was not missed by the vampire and she raised her eyebrows fractionally.

"Not slaves then?"

"No," Trina replied shortly. "We are aligned freely with the coven."

"_Very_ unconventional," Daisy rephrased. She brought a hand up to her chin and tapped below her lip with a long, manicured fingernail. Then she shrugged slightly in dismissal. "Lina always did have strange ideas about how to run her enclave."

"How did you know what coven we came from?" Trina asked, surprised.

"Because Lina's the one who gave me the particular code-name of Daisy, to be used only in an emergency when sanctuary is being sought."

Trina exchanged a look with Dubas. "Then you're name isn't actually Daisy?"

"No, and as I'm not a large fan of it, I'll ask that we drop it now. You may call me Luka. Now, about why you've come seeking refuge. What has happened to Lina's coven?"

* * *

The refugee vampires were settled into room and the lycans given amnesty within the confines of the house. Luka announced to her house that they were to be treated with civility as they were not enemies to their kind. A few of the vampires in the house had originally escaped the wars with Luka and did not have fond memories of the wolven-kind. Although Trina and Dubas were not received with friendliness, they were at least mostly ignored.

They were given a small room with an adjoining bathroom that they were to share until some further accommodations could be arranged. To the wolves, that basically meant that they should be grateful they weren't being put out in a kennel. They decided to make the best of the situation and started to settle themselves down into their beds to get some much needed rest. Sleep did not come easily, though.

Trina stared up at the ceiling in the darkness of the room. Like the other chambers in the home, the windows were covered with thick, light-blocking draperies so very little light broke into their room, but she knew instinctively that the moon had set and it would be only a short amount of time before the faint light of predawn broke over their world.

"Ask," Dubas' voice rumbled through the darkness. "I know you're mulling over something."

Trina jerked slightly. She had thought her companion had already fallen asleep. "Where is everyone?" she finally whispered across the space to where he lay. "It only took us a night to get here."

"We had a van," Dubas replied reasonably. "The others probably have to hide more."

She lowered her voice further to the barest of murmurs. "But what about the daywalkers?"

"I would imagine they're protecting the others," came Dubas' sensible response.

"But-" Trina started again but was cut off by a grunt from the other wolf.

"Trina." He spoke her name with a sigh, silencing her. "I'm something around 400 years old, give or take a decade. Trust me on this one: the others will show up. They haven't lived as long as they have without learning how to survive in extreme situations. Give them another night to arrive before you start panicking."

Trina chewed on her bottom lip for a moment then nodded. "Alright," she started to say. There was a loud banging from somewhere below them, interrupting her. Both wolves bolted out of their beds, on the alert. Then, with barely a pause to grab their weapons, they exited their room and headed downstairs to the sitting room. As they hadn't had time to pack pajamas, both lycans had chosen to sleep in their street-clothing so they didn't have to waste time getting dressed.

The banging repeated itself on the front door, the tone frantic in its insistence. A few groggy-eyed vampires poked their heads into the deserted main room as the wolves raced by. Without a pause to consider who might be on the other side of the door, Trina grasped the knob and yanked it open.

"Thank God!" Trina jumped back as Michael rushed into the room. He was quickly followed by their contingent of vampires. A few seconds later, Trina shut the door behind them and quickly surveyed the group that stood before her. Apart from Michael, there were no lycans. Her heart sank briefly.

"Raze?" Dubas asked for her when she wasn't able to form the question.

"Stayed behind with the others to allow us to get away," Vlad replied as he gazed fully around the room, turning in a small circle. He frowned at the vampires that ducked out of sight. "Some welcome," he grumbled.

"It is their bedtime," a soft voice explained from the direction of the double doors on the right of the room. Luka emerged, her crimson dressing gown pulled tightly around her slight frame, and moved to the newcomers. "More from Lina's coven?" she asked, directing her question at Trina. The young woman nodded.

"Then you are welcome here." She turned toward Vlad. She could easily see him as the leader of the group as everyone else had kept quiet. She studied him for a moment before catching his eyes. Her breath hitched slightly then she quickly glanced at the others. Her look lingered on Selene and Michael before returning to Vlad.

"If you have some time," the eldest murmured gently, "There is a strange tale to be told that I believe you are now qualified to know."

Luka nodded slowly and took a slight step toward her doors.

"Out here would be fine," Vlad said, causing her to stop. "Your curious coven will learn this eventually. Those eavesdropping on the landing will just learn it slightly sooner than the others." For a fraction of a second, an ironic smile ghosted across Vlad's features before they faded.

"Very well." Luka led the way to a set of couches and settled herself primly on the edge of one of them.

"My warriors are peaked. Is there a kitchen they may refresh themselves in during the meantime?" the lord asked as he chose an armchair across from Luka.

"Through that door, down the hall, and on the left." Luka pointed to one side. Vlad nodded at his combatants. They left without a word in search of the nourishing blood. Michael and Selene, however, chose to stay, seating themselves on a loveseat. Trina and Dubas took another couch. Nagire stood nearby, staring vaguely in their direction, before wandering off to a corner-couch a distance away. He reclined on his side, back turned toward the room, and said nothing.

Luka's gaze followed him then she turned to Vlad and raised a brow. The man made a gesture to indicate it was not a good time for the younger man. Then, clearing his throat, he began.

The elder Viral sat on the edge of her seat without the slightest twitch as she listened to the vampire's story. He spoke of his origins, the coven in London, his connection to Aislyn – whom she knew – and also of the lycans. He also touched on Selene and Michael's plight and the deaths of the other Viral elders. If she had questions, she held them until all the information was passed along. When Vlad finally fell silent, the woman shifted slightly and studied the back of her hands as though they were terribly interesting.

She flicked her eyes at Michael and Selene, then over at Trina and Dubas. Finally, she settled them on Vlad. "It is… a lot to take in," she finally admitted. "You're older than Viktor, even. Older than the Corvinus brothers." She took a breath and blinked a few times. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

Vlad did not respond but merely gave her a level stare. It was unnerving and Luka looked away.

"I believe them," Selene supplied quietly from her place. "There are books I've seen since coming to London, books written by our kind that spoke of the Ancients."

"I'm aware of those texts," Luka snapped then sighed and apologized. "I was around when Viktor ordered the execution of a number of scholars. The reasons he gave were vague at best. I never bothered to question him, though. To do so would have been suicide."

"Viktor did nothing but deceive," Selene added darkly. "Perhaps that is why I'm inclined to trust Vlad and his people."

Luka turned her head toward Selene and nodded. "I'm sorry for what befell you," she said then. "And the falsehoods you had to live under."

"What has been done cannot be undone," Selene said reasonably. "If it were not for Viktor's insanity, I never would have been here today, and things would not have come about as they had." She rested her hand on Michael's to indicate what she meant. Without Viktor choosing her, she never would have lived to meet her partner; she would have died with her family in fear and agony.

"Still, your story is quite extraordinary," Luka said, directing the conversation back to the main topic. "It is perhaps a good thing that Viktor lies dead, or I would be certain he would be attempting to eradicate you, as he did anyone who denied that he was the oldest of us all." She paused and sighed. "It saddens me to hear of Marcus, though. Of everyone, he seemed the most level-headed. He was always kind to those of us who were not considered high society. It sounds as though he was driven mad before his death."

The group descended into silence for a long while. Luka was allowed to absorb all the information and come up with any questions the new ideas brought. "So," she voiced once she had a better handle on the facts. "Another thing comes to mind that I find difficult to believe." Vlad motioned for her to go ahead when she hesitated. "Lucian," she murmured.

"That shocked me, too," Selene told the other Viral honestly. "I watched him die but the lycan these vampires are allied with is unmistakably him."

Luka shook her head a bit, more to clear it then in denial. "His very existence brings upheaval," she spoke with a hint of irritation. "He is harder to kill than a cockroach."

The present werewolves exchanged a look and Dubas smirked slightly at Luka's rather apt description.

"Speaking of that man," Luka was continuing. She hadn't seen the amused expressions on the lycans' faces and was still looking at Vlad. "Where is he?"

Vlad shrugged very slightly, a motion that would have been lost on someone less observant than those gathered. "Last I saw him, he hand his fist halfway through a Hunter. He and the rest of his men stayed behind to allow us to escape."

"Sounds like something he would have done." The blond Viral sat back with a weary sigh.

"You are tired," Vlad stated firmly. "I think perhaps you should retire for the day and allow us to keep watch for any more that may be coming."

"My coven will not be pleased with more lycans," Luka informed the elder.

"I assure you that your kind will be well compensated for putting up with them," Vlad returned.

Luka waved her hand dismissively. "They can deal. I assume you won't be here long?"

"Just enough time to find a suitable location to set ourselves up until this whole fiasco cools off." Vlad nodded his dark head once.

"Well, then." Luka stood from her couch and surveyed the tattered vampires scattered around the room on her fancy furniture. "Miss Trina and her companion are housed in the guest wing. Should you need accommodation until nightfall, you are welcome to find vacant rooms there. I will dismiss myself now, however. The day and I do not get along."

Once the elder Viral had disappeared through her double doors, Vlad turned his eyes to look at the leaders of the small group. He was about to open his mouth when Michael beat him to speaking.

"How long do we wait before we start sending out search parties?"

"It has been two daylights, including this one, since we fled the complex," the lord started, frowning slightly. "Give them until tonight. It's hard to know where they had to go to secure themselves from the sun. I don't suppose anyone has heard from… well, anyone?"

Heads were slowly shaken. Vlad sighed and rubbed his temples with his fingers for a moment. "Well, I trust Lina and Aislyn to know how to handle themselves out there. My daughter is most likely with your pack," he nodded toward Dubas and Trina, "And Lina, with other covenites. Once the night falls, I'm sure she'll show up."

"Can we call them?" Michael suggested next.

"Lina's phone is broken," Vlad said with a derisive smirk. "And mine is dead. We would need to find one in this monstrosity of a house and that would probably involve awakening our hostess again."

Michael opened his mouth to utter another question when he suddenly held very still.

"What?" Selene started.

"Tires on gravel," he explained, shooting a look at the door. Vlad stood and made a silent motion toward the other vampires. They had noticed him move and were at the ready. Slowly, the tall vampire made his way toward the door and waited slightly to one side of it. With deliberate motions, he pulled a gun from under his trench coat. Everyone remained mute, ready to spring if it happened to be an enemy and not one of their own.

Slowly, Vlad reached over to the heavily draped window and pushed the velvety cloth aside the barest amount possible. He chanced a glance out. As the tension in his shoulders eased, everyone else in the room relaxed.

Quickly, the vampire unlocked the front door and drew it wide open. In streamed Lucian's lycans, tired but mostly whole. At their rear came their Alpha, and, much to Vlad's relief, Aislyn. The young woman embraced her father firmly after the older vampire shut and locked the door behind them. Vlad sent a grateful look over Aislyn's shoulder at Lucian, who was hovering nearby.

Tired as everyone was, there were reports to be made. It wasn't until about an hour later, when Vlad knew the state the coven had been left in, that he made the signal for Trina and Dubas to lead them up to the rooms Luka indicated they could occupy.

Now that the remainder of Lucian's pack had arrived, Dubas and Trina parted ways. The number of available rooms was sorely limited, however. Everyone ended up bunking with someone else. Trina was moved to stay with Michael and Selene while Raze took her place in the room with Dubas. After a bit of shuffling to make sure everyone was housed with someone they could at least stand, the combined lycan and vampire force settled down for the rest of the day, hoping nightfall would bring to them the lost members of their family.

* * *

**AN: **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. We're movin' right along!


	14. In nomine Patris

**Hello,**

My name is Lynnette and I have been your author for this journey into my imagination. I would like to take a special moment before we begin chapter fourteen.

Firstly, I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Shaz. His encouragement and interest in this project has really bolstered my motivation. Thank you, My Friend. Your support has truly been inspirational.

Secondly, I would like to thank everyone out there who has reviewed, even if it's simply to say 'give me more,' or 'cool.' Just a single word of encouragement is enough to spur me into action when it comes to writing.

Thirdly, I would like to thank everyone who, even without reviewing, has taken on the challenge of reading this. This is the longest thing I believe I have ever written. Period. It has truly been an immense undertaking. To see my 'traffic' continually increasing and to see people add me to their alerts makes me feel like my story has validity, that it hasn't been a waste of my writing time to do it.

Fourthly, and lastly, I would like to make an announcement. This will be my last fanfic. This chapter will be my last chapter written with borrowed characters in a borrowed land. As fun as it is to bring these stories to life, I have a higher aspiration I am working toward: publishing an original work. I fully intend to become a published author, which means I will have to stop posting works of fiction based on someone else's copyright. As sad a day as it will be when this fic is removed from the web, along with my account from , it will be a good day because it will mark my passage into the ranks of the professional authors. Until that day, however, I will leave this story up. It will be a reminder that, if I put my effort into it, I can write something that others will want to read.

If you ever wish to reach out and say hello, I am on Facebook… that information is in my profile.

Please hold all questions until the end. I will answer anything you want to throw at me.

Thank you, again, and I hope you enjoy this final installment of **The Ancient Coven.**

**Chapter Fourteen: In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen.**

The nightfall brought the first of a few weary travelers to the doors of Luka's mansion. Barely had the occupants of the house started their evening when a knock sounded on the door. Relief mixed with anxiety for the visiting coven when their people filed in, their bodies in various states of repair. The first group to arrive was barely more than five or six; half of them had sun-scalds on their bodies from poor concealment.

Vlad questioned them intently while Aislyn checked their wounds. No one had seen Lina since they had left the complex. They gave their story of escape with nearly blank expressions, as if no one could truly believe what had happened to them. They had just about made the mansion the night before but ended up spending the day in a ramshackle barn that a strong sneeze would have toppled. The state of shock they wore melted slightly at the sight of friends and family among those gathered in the opulent common room.

Luka hovered nearby, hands folded demurely in front of her body. As soon as they had finished whatever interrogation Vlad was putting them through, she made orders for everyone to be fed and given clean garments and housing to rest. She sent her people scurrying to aid their strange allies, ignoring the furtive glances the Virals were giving their new houseguests. She had explained to her most trusted vassals the situation at hand, and the background Vlad had given her. Despite the surprise her people had received, they were doing their best to be civil and accommodating; although it was not uncommon for one to be caught openly staring at the legendary Vlad Tepes when they thought no one was looking.

When the second group of refuges showed up, they were put through a similar inspection with the same results: no Lina. Vlad grew visibly agitated as the evening wore on. He brooded in a corner, his blood-tinged eyes watching the room unnervingly. He traced the movements of his daughter as she approached, her arms folded over her middle in an unconsciously defensive pose.

"We need to make some sort of plan," she announced as she reached him, shifting her weight slightly on the balls of her feet.

"I am aware of that," he spoke back darkly. "I was about to call a meeting of our officers… those that are left, anyway. Where is your husband?"

Aislyn shifted in slight irritation. "Hiding under the bed, perhaps?" Her tone was a bit sharper than she had intended it to be and she sighed heavily.

Vlad raised his brows at her as Aislyn smoothed her hair back and tried again. "He's been on the phone all night with his packs, trying to make sure he knows where everyone is. He's up in our room right now talking to Brenna. I think he's doing it to avoid coming down here."

Vlad's eyes flicked across the room. "Evading Luka," he supplied.

"Exactly. Although I don't think he's doing it consciously."

Vlad sighed and stood from his chair. "Well, I'm going to gather ours together down here if you want to go retrieve him. He has to come down sometime."

Aislyn nodded grimly and left her father to do as she was asked. As she moved toward the stairway, she caught a few guilty glances from the Virals who quickly ducked out of the way. When she had stayed with them, they had been friendly, outgoing people. Now that they knew what she really was, it was almost as though they were afraid of her. Aislyn pushed the odd feeling of rejection into the back of her mind; she had more important matters at hand than what some previous acquaintances thought of her.

She entered her assigned bedroom quietly, closing the door behind her. Lucian sat on the edge of their bed, talking quietly into a cell phone. Aislyn couldn't catch who was on the other end but it was a man's voice. Apparently his conversation with Brenna was over.

When Lucian finally hung up, he looked over at Aislyn in askance.

"Father is calling a meeting," she told him softly, walking over to where he sat. With deliberate motions, Lucian reached out and pulled Aislyn forward so she was standing between his knees. "Mother still isn't here. He's worried. Who was that on the phone?"

The lycan rested his cheek against her belly, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Adrian," he said with a long sigh. "He was the last one I needed to get in contact with, besides Mayson. But we both know Mayson's not going to pick up so I think I'll put off that potentially enjoyable conversation until I can speak directly to his face."

Aislyn raised her eyebrows at the strained concern in his voice and ran her hands through his disheveled hair. "Is everyone else safe?"

Slowly, Lucian nodded his head, nuzzling his nose against her for a moment and inhaling her scent. "Adrian has assured me that everyone is in hiding."

"And you trust him?"

Lucian pulled back slightly and looked up into her eyes. "Oddly enough, yes. Adrian may be an insufferable prat and a thorn in my side, but he does genuinely care about his people, in his own way."

Aislyn ran her hands down his arms and around her body to take a hold of his hands. Drawing them back around to the front, she took a step back and pulled Lucian to his feet. Resting her forehead against his, she sighed slightly. "I'll let you be the best judge of your people. If you're done on the phone, we should make our way downstairs so we can make some sort of plan of action." She watched him cringe slightly then nod his acquiescence.

They left the room and headed toward the stairwell that would take them down into the living room. Lucian paused on the landing, running a hand through his hair with heavy motions. "Those that escaped with Luka will not remember me with favor," he said quietly.

"Your men have forgiven Selene," Aislyn returned. "Surely Luka's will forgive you." She met his green orbs firmly and held her hand out for him to take. Feeling his hard calluses slide against her own, she smiled her encouragement and led him down into the sight of others.

As expected, those from Luka's coven that had known him in youth froze at the sight of the lycan descending their stairs. He held firmly onto Aislyn's hand but made no outward sign of being phased by the Virals' stares. He was ever a master of his expressions and the only thing his body language gave off was a wave of confidence, a charismatic presence that even the Viral vampires could not fail to notice.

Members of Luka's coven followed his progress as he reached the base of the stairs and moved toward the area Vlad was standing in. The few that had fled with Luka knew him on sight and were startled at the change in the wolf. They had known him from his childhood, watched as he did whatever Viktor asked like a good little pet. They had seen him whipped like a dog, cowed into silence, and publically humiliated.

And they had seen him rally an army to rival Viktor's, decimating their home, and rise to the most feared position in their world. Even those that were turned after Luka arrived in England with her refugees knew about the tale of Lucian and Sonja. Luka had seen it first-hand and she had no problem telling her people about her past and how they came to be. They were perhaps the only coven that had known Viktor's true face before the events that led to Viktor's death. Lucian's existence was part of their history. He was a legend in his own right, and he was standing in their living room.

It was an awkward feeling at best when Lucian walked up to Vlad and noticed Luka was included in the group that had gathered around the elder lord. The Viral and the lycan stared at each other for a silent moment in which the others present tried not to look too uncomfortable. Then Luka shot a look at the intertwined fingers of Lucian and Aislyn.

"Try not the fuck this one up, will you?" Luka muttered scathingly.

Lucian bristled but Vlad cut off whatever he was going to reply with by clearing his throat sharply. "Is everyone here?"

"Trina said she needed to get something from her room," Raze informed them. As if mention of her name summoned the young woman, there was the sound of feet pattering down the stairs. A lumpy something was bundled up in Trina's arms and she hurried over to the group.

"There is a dining hall down this way that will serve for a meeting room," Luka said as soon as the she-wolf reached them. Without waiting to see if they followed, the blonde vampire showed the way down the corridor that led toward the kitchens. She passed by that particular door and pushed open another door across the hall and down a few paces.

She flipped the light switch up and the room was illuminated. It was as grand as the living room. A long table of a dense, dark wood sat the length of the room. Exquisitely carved chairs were set up along its length, upholstered in blood red velvet. Electric chandeliers hung from the ceiling, thick chains supporting their massive weight. Tapestries draped the walls, helping to muffle echoes created by the high-vaulted ceiling.

With a motion from Vlad, those gathered took seats near the head of the table where the elder stationed himself. Luka sat across from Aislyn at Vlad's left. Lucian took up residence next to his mate while Raze, Dubas, and then Trina chose their seats down his side. The few remaining vampire officers sat next to Luka. Selene sat on the vampire side; Michael with the lycans. They totaled ten.

Vlad surveyed the immortals with sad eyes from where he stood. He laid his hand on Aislyn's head briefly, then returned his gaze to the others.

"We need to figure out where we stand and what we do next," he said clearly. "Let's just go down the list, shall we? Lycans?"

"Holed up safely in their emergency dens," Lucian reported coolly, looking at Vlad and not across the table where Luka sat, her blue eyes boring into him. "Mayson's pack has vanished off the face of the Earth as far as anyone is concerned. No one has seen or heard from any of his pack since before the attack." The severe look on his face showed just how much the information irked the lycan king.

"How many of yours can we trust?" Vlad asked next, locking eyes with the alpha.

Lucian straightened slightly. Aislyn gripped his thigh under the table, sensing the hostility suddenly increase in the room.

"You asked me to bring the London packs into this fight," Lucian said evenly, covering Aislyn's hand with his own. He gave it a squeeze in reassurance. "I could not anticipate this happening."

"It was your wolves that betrayed them?" Luka asked from her side of the table, eyes narrowing. "Why am I not surprised? Lycans have never been able to keep to their contracts, especially when you're involved."

"Slavery is no contract," Lucian replied coldly, turning his head to capture Luka's gaze. He held it firmly, his naturally dominant nature starting to creep out to the point where his lycans exchanged nervous looks.

"This is not Lucian's fault," Aislyn snapped at the older vampire, taking attention away from her riled mate. "Some overly ambitious pack leader went rogue."

"Not his fault directly but deceit does seem to follow in his footsteps," Luka spat back. "Is my coven now in danger of being attacked? Will your people tell those Slayers where we are? Or worse yet, turn on my people as we slumber?"

Aislyn started to rise from her seat but Lucian pulled her back down. He may have been equally upset by Luka's remarks but his self control could never be questioned.

"If you're just going to insult us, then I'll personally escort you from this meeting," Raze growled from Lucian's right in an attempt to draw attention to himself and away from the seething vampress two seats away.

"You'll not touch me," Luka returned. "I won't be sullied by such hands. I have my respect."

"But not enough sense to keep your mouth closed when comment is not warranted," Aislyn returned, again about to take her feet.

Vlad's hand slammed down into the top of the table. The sound reverberated around the room, bringing silence with its echo. "That is quite enough from _all_ of you." His eyes bore into those of his daughter and Luka, respectively. "I am not blaming _anyone_ here for what has happened. Mayson is the one to blame. It could have easily been one of my own. We vampires are not immune to deceit and the passion of our own arrogance. That is not the question at hand. If Lucian trusts those that remain, then I am satisfied with that."

Aislyn grimaced, color flushing her cheeks, but she remained mute. Luka, too, had the decency to look chastised.

"Now that we're done barking at each other," Vlad continued more calmly, "We still have barely a fraction of our original numbers here. Do you have any idea how many perished at the complex?" He looked at the lycans and Aislyn.

Aislyn sighed and leaned back in her chair as she thought. "Hard to tell," she replied honestly. "Apart from Tekala, a body count was difficult to obtain. Maybe twenty or so piles of ash that I could find? But I don't know how many of those were more than one person."

"We gathered at least thirty humans," Raze added. "And a number of lycans as well." He looked toward Lucian.

"I counted twelve," the alpha supplied. "They were of mixed packs, none were directly mine."

"There are near forty of us here right now, not counting your lycans," Vlad mused. "Fifty plus unaccounted for?" Vlad rubbed his eyes with a hand for a minute. "Can that be right?"

"It has to be. If they're not here, they're not accounted for," Aislyn said bitterly, although her tone was not directed at her father but at the situation.

"Speaking of not being accounted for," Vlad continued, picking up from Aislyn's comment with hardly a pause, "Lina."

"Oh thank God!" Trina's words exploded from her like a popped balloon, startling everyone present. No one had noticed her squirming eagerly in her seat, their attentions too fixed on Vlad.

"I'm sorry?" Vlad blinked down the length of the table at the young woman and her bundled something.

"I've been waiting for you to say something about that," she returned. "I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone since all this has happened, with all the hustle and everyone showing up and you all ignoring me."

"What?" Aislyn leaned around Lucian, perplexed. "What are you getting on about?"

Vlad's eyes flicked between Trina and the bundle. Something nagged at the back of his mind. Had he been ignoring her? Thinking back, Vlad had a very odd feeling. Although quite a bit of the past few evenings was a blur, he did recall nearly constantly seeing her in the background, looking awkward and nervous. "You've been trying to tell me something," he stated.

"Yes," Trina replied emphatically. "But you were always busy, or looking like you'd murder anyone who bothered you."

"If this is important, why didn't you speak to one of us?" Raze asked, brows turned in.

"Because," Trina murmured nervously. "Because Lina said I couldn't trust anyone else… but with Vlad here, I think we're okay now." She quelled slightly under the dark look of the large lycan, as well as the frowns from just about everyone else present.

"I'm sorry," she continued, addressing her words to Lucian now. "I'm sorry, Uncle, I didn't say anything. I mean, I didn't think you or the others were bad or anything, but I was told to trust no one! And given the circumstances, I didn't want to betray Lina's confidence and I thought it was too important to tell anyone except for Vlad, but like I said, he's here now and so I can-"

"Trina," Vlad interrupted, holding up a hand. "Child, you're rambling. Take a deep breath and tell us what Lina told you."

"After everyone left the basement," Trina explained, slower now, "she swallowed something and gave me her PDS. She said to find her if she didn't show up because she'd be stuck somewhere, not able to get back. I don't know where she thought she was going, but she might be there right now with more of the coven, waiting for us to come help them."

"She swallowed something?" Vlad frowned.

"A tracking device," Trina elaborated.

"Do you have the PDS?" Vlad asked next, holding a hand out eagerly toward the female. She nodded and dug it out of her jacket. She passed it along her side of the table to the lord.

"I don't know how to access the part that tracks her, though," she added.

Vlad handed it back to Aislyn who started tapping away on the screen intently. "I wish you would have interrupted sooner," Vlad addressed Trina gravely. The young woman looked glumly back.

"I-" she started to reply.

"Don't dwell on it," Vlad advised, shaking his head. "You've told me now and that is what matters. As long as Aislyn can find the proper program, we'll be well on our way to getting my nightingale back."

The lord started to turn his attention to his daughter when Trina spoke again. "There's something else." He raised his brow at her and she fingered the bundle.

"Go on," Vlad urged when Trina hesitated.

The young lycan whipped back the wrapping – a spare T-shirt the vampires had leant to her when it became apparent that the new house guests had nothing more than what was on their backs – to reveal the Animus' armguard.

"What is the meaning of this?" Vlad demanded, reached toward the armguard. Trina slid it down the length of the table toward the lord. As it reached his finger tips, Vlad snatched it up and blinked at the worn leather.

"Lina said she didn't want Helena to get it if she died, so she sent it with me to hide," Trina explained.

"She's out there without the sword?" Aislyn glanced up from the device before continuing her search.

"Your mother managed without this for a number of years," Vlad said dismissively, fingering the armband. "I suppose her reasoning was sound. Thank you for returning this. We'll take it with us when we go to pick her up."

"I have it," Aislyn announced, turning the PDA around a few times as she gazed at the map. "Do you have a larger computer? This map isn't very detailed." She looked up at Luka.

"Yes, of course. There is one in my office." The elder stood quickly. "It's a desktop."

"Internet?"

"Naturally."

Aislyn stood as well. "If you'll excuse us."

Vlad nodded. "Go ahead. We'll meet you in the central room in a moment."

The remainder of the members of the counsel abandoned their chairs and followed after Luka and Aislyn. They made their way into the living room, an air of hopeful anticipation hovering around them for the first time since the attack. For all they knew, they were only a few hours away from regaining Lina, and perhaps a good number of their coven.

Without Aislyn present, Lucian gazed around to find something to occupy himself. There was a question niggling the back of his mind that he wanted answered and now seemed as good a time as ever to discover the answer. He approached Vlad as the other man started pacing the length of the living room. Lucian placed himself in Vlad's path so the vampire would have little choice but to stop.

Vlad looked up from his brooding course. "Lucian?" he said by way of question to the other man's actions.

"A word," the lycan requested. Vlad nodded and made his way toward a chair. They sat themselves at respectful distances. Once settled, Vlad motioned that Lucian should continue. "I've noticed," the wolf said carefully, "that Luka tends to give you a fairly wide berth when she can and tends to stare. If your two covens are in alliance, how is it that she treats you so oddly?"

Vlad chuckled then. "Well, she didn't know I existed." At Lucian's quizzical look, Vlad elaborated. "Lina met her many years ago on a chance. They were in the same place at the same time, some excrement hit a cooling device as they say, and Lina saved Luka from some upstart Slayer. To avoid questions, Lina merely told Luka that she was part of another coven of vampires that lived in London. Luka made the assumption that we were Viral. We never corrected her. Lina took the role of 'Elder,'" Vlad made quote-marks with his fingers, "And we happily kept to ourselves, leaving them to do as they pleased."

"And because Luka owes Lina her life, she's required to house your coven should disaster occur," Lucian deduced. Vlad nodded slowly.

"She also helped Aislyn infiltrate Amelia's coven, although I must admit we did have to lie to Luka to accomplish it," Vlad continued. "Naturally, we didn't tell her _why_ we needed Aislyn to be near Amelia. We just told her we thought that being one of the Elder's Death Dealers would be better experience for Aislyn than being here."

"Fighting real lycans versus Dolls?"

"Sort of. Lina is better at explaining the reasoning behind it. She's always been better with people so I let her do all the arrangements and the talking. Well, since I didn't exist to Luka, it made the most sense for Lina to be our figurehead." Vlad shifted slightly in his chair and sighed.

Lucian nodded his understanding. He had a pretty good gist of the ruse they had used to get Aislyn into the system. "So Luka kept contact with the old Virals, then."

"Again, sort of," Vlad repeated. "I suppose it is all a bit more complex than I'm making it out to be. Luka only had contact with Amelia; otherwise we would have sent Aislyn directly to Viktor's coven in Budapest and not to Amelia's. It was a roundabout way to get her into Hungary but it worked in the end."

"I was unaware they were friendly. Amelia was asleep by the time I was born," Lucian mused.

"She sympathized," a new voice broke into their conversation. Neither man had noticed the approach of the blond Viral. They had been too absorbed in their own discussion.

Lucian eyed her guardedly for a moment but said nothing. Luka pulled a seat up and sat primly on the edge, crossing her legs and interlocking her fingers together on her knee. She sent Lucian a look that mirrored his own.

"When you attacked the castle, there were many of us that were unarmed and harmless. Miraculously, the lycans that discovered our hiding place let us go and we fled into what I suppose would now be Germany. We lived there for a while but it was difficult to make our way. We were few in number and none of us were fighters or hunters. We had never needed to obtain our own food before; Viktor had always provided." Luka sighed and kicked her leg a little before continuing.

"I'm not sure how much time passed. Years, maybe? Our numbers dwindled as Slayers found our hiding places. We moved constantly, never staying in one haven for more than a month or two before being forced to find new refuge. No one wanted to go back to Viktor, though, and none of us knew where he was if we had even wanted to return.

"We ended up heading across the water into England, hoping not to be followed by the Slayers. It seemed to work fairly well. We finally became established enough to start growing our coven again. A number of years later, after I had purchased this house and the land around it, we received a visitor." Luka half closed her eyes as she remembered, gazing toward the front door through her lashes.

"The weather was terrible, the wind howled so loud we would have sworn there were wolves on our very doorstep. It wasn't lycans, though, but a vampire that knocked on our door." Luka paused again and glanced around in surprise. A number of people had gathered to listen to her story. She looked a little annoyed at the mixed members of Lucian's pack and Vlad's coven, but knew she had said too much to bother stopping.

"Amelia and a small entourage had found us. She said she had followed rumors of an enclave of vampires somewhere in England. It had taken her months but she had discovered our safe haven and had come to offer us refuge with her own people. She told me that our kind needed to stick together, especially with the war Lucian was waging out in central Europe." Her blue eyes flicked toward the lycan's face. He returned her look with a neutral one of his own.

"Given that you are still in this house, I take it you refused?" Vlad asked, drawing her attention away from Lucian and breaking the awkward silence that was starting to form while the two were staring each other down.

"Yes. I told her we were not fighters and felt perfectly safe in London, away from the fighting. When I explained to her exactly who I was, she admitted that I was probably right to stay away, but told me if I needed anything, to let her know. The strange thing was that she always had seemed so cold and unapproachable when I was just barely turned. Years of war had worn on her, I think. She knew of Sonja, and the reasons behind the war -" Again, her eyes turned toward Lucian but did not linger before going back to Vlad. "- and she did not blame me for wanting to stay out of things. She seemed a surprisingly compassionate woman."

"So you used your favor from her to get Aislyn into her coven," Lucian murmured, rubbing at his chin through his short beard. "I suppose I have to thank you for that."

Luka grunted contemptuously in the back of her throat. "I did not do it for you."

"No, but by doing so you have indirectly saved my life," Lucian returned in an attempt to be polite.

"Pity."

Lucian's eyes narrowed at the woman and he shifted his posture slightly. The loitering lycans suddenly decided they had somewhere else important they needed to be and scurried off, with the exception of Raze and Trina, who both felt that perhaps they should stay just in case they needed to quell the rising hostility. The vampires took the cue from their canine allies and vanished to other parts of the room as well.

"That's uncalled for," Lucian said carefully. "I have been nothing but civil to you since I've arrived. You seem to be bent on insulting me at every turn you can."

"Uncalled for?" Luka returned, uncrossing her legs. She clenched at the fabric of her dress slightly with her red-painted nails, brows twitching together. "I'd hardly call you unworthy of my scorn."

"Excuse me?" Lucian sat forward in his chair, as if poised to stand. "What did I ever do to you? My men were given orders not to harm you when they attacked the fortress. It was because of me that you even got away in the first place."

"Cha!" Luka scoffed. "What did it matter if I'd lived?"

"Apparently it mattered a lot. If I hadn't told them not to kill you, you wouldn't have made it to London and you wouldn't have helped Aislyn find me." Lucian's posture became increasingly aggressive. Raze tapped Trina slightly on the arm and the young woman swallowed heavily. Nearby, vampires from Luka's coven had stopped what they were doing to gawk at the two leaders.

"Oh, right, her." Luka's lip twisted slightly. "No offense to you," she shot at Vlad, "But if she's foolish enough to get involved with Lucian then I'm sorry I helped."

Lucian surged to his feet. An insult to his mate was a direct insult to him. Luka heaved upright as well, facing his now obvious anger with a fierce glare of her own.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked sharply. Raze made a motion to grab at Lucian's arm but the elder shrugged his friend off.

"We all saw how well your last marriage went, didn't we?"

Lucian visibly paled as he gaped at Luka. "How _dare _you?" he hissed. "Have I not done enough to avenge what happened? Have I not done enough in repentance?"

"No," Luka replied coldly, fists clenched at her sides.

"What do you want from me?" he growled. "Want me to apologize for my actions? That isn't going to happen. I have no regrets about a war that freed an entire nation of people from slavery. What do you want me to do?"

"There is nothing you can do now," Luka said hotly, cutting the air in front of her with her hand. "You missed your chance!"

"Missed my chance? What chance?"

"You were supposed to save her!" Luka yelled, clenching her hands into fists in front of her body hard enough to turn her knuckles white. "I came to you in the woods to tell you what was going to happen. You were supposed to save her, not get her killed!"

Lucian stared at the blond vampire, eyes starting to turn black. "Do you think I didn't try?" he snarled. "God damn it, woman, I went back! I tried!"

"And you _failed_." Luka felt a momentary trill of victory at the deflated look Lucian suddenly had at her barb. Her second of triumph was cut off abruptly, however, as she felt a firm hand grip her shoulder and spin her around. She was met with a backhand that sent her stumbling across the carpets and onto a nearby lounger. Shocked, Luka stared up amidst the sudden, dead silence into the livid face of Aislyn.

"What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" the young woman demanded, bearing down on Luka in a way that could only be described as predatory. She reached down and snagged the vampress by the front of her crimson dress, hoisting her to her feet as if Luka weighed no more than a sack of rags.

Fear replaced the anger that had once graced the Viral's features as Aislyn pulled her close. The younger woman's fangs elongated as she lowered her voice dangerously. The room was so hushed that her words still rang clearly across the space.

"Who the hell are you to stand there and make such remarks?" Aislyn said slowly as Luka's hands gripped at the Ancient's wrist uselessly. "You did the only thing you thought was your duty by alerting Lucian that day in the woods. You didn't even lift a finger to defend your precious friend, did you? You just stood back and let it happen without so much as an argument. You told the lycan. Good for you."

Aislyn didn't notice her father stand and make his way slowly toward her, creeping along beyond her vision. If she saw Lucian approach as well, she did not acknowledge it. She continued with barely a pause, rolling her fist slightly to get a firmer grip on Luka when the other woman tried to pull away.

"I'm not finished," Aislyn growled. "Now you stand here accusing him of failure, digging your fingers into old wounds because it makes you feel better about your own failure to act when it came time. I can understand that Lucian would not forget his pain so easily; I understand lycans better than most vampires ever will. But for _you_, an Elder _vampire_, to hold onto this idiotic obsession the way you have, and to feel as though you need to be vindicated for a crime that is not yours to vindicate? That's just childish. Your anger is misdirected. It is Viktor you should hold in hate, not Lucian. Not the one who nearly died trying to save his wife and child while you stood idly by. Not the only one who actually dared to _act_."

Aislyn released her grip with a small shove, sending Luka backpedaling a step or two. The woman clutched at her chest where the younger woman's fingers had dug in, staring in mute shock at the blazing red eyes of the other vampress. "How dare you speak to me like-"

"Shove it!" Aislyn interrupted as she felt Vlad's hands land on her shoulders. She tried to jostle him off but her father's grip was strong and she found herself effectively held in place. "I have all the right to speak to you like this right now! You're nothing but a coward, hiding behind excuses to explain your selfish inaction!"

"Ais," Lucian said reproachfully, appearing at her side. "It's all right." He carefully replaced Vlad, taking a firm grip on both of Aislyn's shoulders from the front. Although a small part of him was pleased she had stood up for him so vehemently, he hadn't wanted to cause too large of a scene. Now he felt like he was standing in front of a camera on one of those drama-filled American television programs.

"No, it's not," Aislyn argued. She felt his hands tighten and she met his eyes. "She-"

"She lost a lot, too," Lucian said reasonably. "Not just Sonja, but her entire way of life. Lycans are not the only creatures that can hold a grudge. And in a lot of ways, she is right. I did fail."

"Vampires don't hold grudges-" Aislyn started lamely. She started to open her mouth to deny him his failure when he cut her off.

"Justin." Lucian saw her flinch and sighed, pulling her forward. He encircled her in his arms and rested his forehead against her's. She had naturally told him all about the Justin Incident and he knew she still hated the man, even though he had long since died. "Take a deep breath." Her chest expanded then deflated against his obediently.

"This is how I'm repaid for lending my home to you?" Luka snapped, bringing attention back to her as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress and compose herself. Aislyn's ebbing rage had given Luka time to rally her courage. "Give me a good reason not to kick you out onto the curb right now for how you've just treated me."

"Lucian prevented your death six hundred years ago." Raze's baritone rasp broke across the room. He folded his massive arms across his equally massive chest and leveled a dark glare at Luka. "I was there."

"You may have felt that you've repaid Lina for saving your life those years ago," Vlad murmured from where he was hovering near Aislyn, "But by this information, you owe just as much of a debt to Lucian."

"Unless she's crass enough to think that she owes him nothing because he's a lycan." Aislyn's snarl was muffled by Lucian's shoulder but she let a glare slip passed his waves of dark hair, aimed at Luka. The blond bristled slightly.

"I will continue to house your people until you can find a suitable replacement location," Luka finally said stiffly. Her air of composed aristocracy returned as if the entire altercation never happened. "If only for the sake of Sonja's memory." Without another word, she picked up the front of her skirts and stalked off toward her double doors.

There was a momentary awkward shuffle as the occupants of the main room tried to go back to what they were doing without too much embarrassment. It was not easy to watch your leaders fight amongst themselves; it left everyone feeling tense and uncomfortable.

Lucian released Aislyn. He smoothed her hair back behind her ears, giving her a small, if sad, smile. She returned it.

"Not to interrupt what I'm sure is going to be quite a tender moment between you two, but where is my wife?" Vlad's voice broke in impatiently.

Aislyn look slightly guilty as she realized she had gotten so wound up in Luka that she had pushed her own mother to the back burner. "I don't recognize the area she's in," Aislyn told her father honestly. "It's not one of our hiding places that I'm aware of."

"How far out is it?" Vlad moved a little closer.

"Couple hours if we hit traffic." Aislyn rubbed her chin slightly. "I'm honestly not happy with the thought that I don't recognize the area."

"We should go right away then," Lucian suggested.

"If the sun comes up," Aislyn started uneasily. "We don't have any transports besides the one Father came in and the one we took from the coven, and that van Trina stole. And the Bentley, of course."

"We'll leave the nightwalkers then. I'd rather go sooner than later. I'm going to go talk to Nagire and see what he intends to do. Gather the others. I want to be gone within the half hour." Vlad did not wait to see if his orders would be followed before he made is way up the stairs toward the room his son occupied.

"Is there enough transport room for all of us?" Trina sidled up to Aislyn and Lucian, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, I think so. At the very least, the lycans can find other ways back should we need the seats." Lucian ran his fingers through his hair a few times, taming it back. "Trina, I want you and Raze to alert the others and get ready to go. Ais, walk with me?"

Aislyn blinked a few times, confusion evident on her face but she nodded. Her puzzlement deepened when he took her hand and led her out of the mansion, into the wood-covered front yard. She followed him quietly for a few meters into the small forest that surrounded the building. Once under the muffling canopy of the woods, the lycan turned to her, his lips pressed into a grim line.

"What?" she asked, instantly on the defensive.

"You're not saying everything," he returned carefully.

"It's nothing," she evaded, waving a hand in dismissal. She was unconvincing, however, and Lucian grasped her hand tightly in mid-swing.

"Do not lie to me," he warned. "You're terrible at it."

"I'm not lying," she protested. "It probably is nothing. I just don't want my father to get any more upset than he already is."

Lucian relaxed slightly, pulling her closer. "Then tell me what's bothering you," he insisted, snaking an arm around her waist.

"I already mentioned that I'm not happy with where the beacon is saying my mother is." Aislyn leaned against him, taking a deep breath. The mixed scents of damp woodlands and musky lycan had a calming effect on her. Aislyn's nerves were still on high alert after the fight inside.

"But that's not all," Lucian pressed, running his other hand along her back. They twisted slightly in place, an unconscious, comforting motion.

"It's too suspicious," Aislyn finally admitted, pulling back slightly. "This whole thing makes my skin crawl." When Lucian remained silent, Aislyn ploughed ahead, fingers flexing anxiously into the fabric at his shoulders as she spoke. "Why would she assume she would need to be retrieved? Never before has she done something like this. She left the Animus with Trina and swallowed a goddamned tracking device. Why? The reasons she gave Trina would have seemed sound at the time, and would make perfect sense to someone like your niece who has very little combat experience with regards to my mother."

"I had a feeling this was on your mind," Lucian murmured. "It bothered me, too, when Trina told us about Lina's strange behavior."

Aislyn sighed, fiddling absentmindedly with the collar of Lucian's shirt. "You want to know what I think?" she asked at length.

"Lina's up to something."

"Exactly. Just what she's doing, I have no idea. I think we'd better get as many weapons as possible. I just have a terrible feeling about what we're going to find when we track her down." Aislyn gritted her teeth slightly. "Good thing we stopped at the house before coming here or we'd be sorely under-equipped."

It had been an obvious choice to go through the armory and load up their transport truck with whatever weaponry they could find, as well as spare clothing and blood bags. Aislyn had not wanted to evacuate the complex wearing a fancy dress, and Lucian wanted to make sure they were well stocked up just in case they ran into some trouble.

"Let us head back in," Lucian recommended. "They will be ready to leave soon and I don't want to be the one to hold things up." Aislyn readily agreed; she needed to gather a couple last minute things anyway.

* * *

A wave of lightheaded nausea greeted Lina's conscious mind and she instantly regretted waking up to experience it. Her head lolled on her shoulders a moment before she retched violently. Nothing came up but foam and the woman let her head hang as she tried to get a grip on her condition.

It was the sickness of not having fed, that much she could tell right away. Her captors had not given her any sustenance. If they were intending to kill her slowly, that would be a good way to do it. Why they were doing that, however, was the mystery.

Lina slowly took stock of herself, eyes squeezed shut against the spinning sensation that washed over her. Her wrists hurt and she tried pulling against whatever binding held her in place, but it was a useless gesture at best. As far as she could tell, she was strapped quiet effectively to an upright table, hands pinned down by her waist.

A muffled sound met her ears and Lina tried to turn her head to catch the words better. She couldn't make them out and let her head hang again. She would have to wait for the hunger to subside enough to regain better function of her senses. The dizziness of not eating would usually fluctuate enough to have spells of coherence, if Lina remembered the last time she hadn't eaten clearly.

The distinctive sound of a door opened and then shut nearby. Lina whipped her head around to look toward the noise and instantly realized opening her eyes was useless. Her vision was met with a swirling, jerking vortex of foggy shapes she could not blink away.

"Oo idot," she heard a voice slur from the direction the door sound had come from. "Oo hav oo ed er, 'ees no use dead to me."

"Bah," came a masculine reply. "She's not died yet."

Lina blinked rapidly, attempting to clear her vision as her hearing comprehension returned. It did not work and she was still left seeing barely discernable shapes, more shadow than anything else. Having her hearing was better than nothing, however, and she strained to understand what was being said.

"She's right," a third, terribly familiar voice said darkly. "If you don't feed her, she'll die soon. What good will that do any of us?"

"No one asked you, Human," the male voice snarled. The sound was animalistic. A lycan? Without the use of her hands, though, Lina could not use any form of lycan-detecting Hunter magic so it was a guess at best.

"Perhaps someone should have before she got to this state," came the familiar voice's retort.

"Enough, both of you," the first voice snapped. It was female, as well as Lina could tell, and it was coming closer. A dark blob floated around in Lina's vision as she tried to size up the woman standing before her. "She's awake. Go fetch me one of the humans from the pens."

Lina could hear faint grumbling from the male voice, followed by the click of the latch and the door closing behind him.

"How much blood have you managed to drain out of her?" the first voice asked.

There was a silence. Lina could hear someone fumbling with something in the distance. "About a liter."

"Is that all?" Voice One snapped. Lina heard the sound of fabric rubbing as though the woman in front of her turned sharply.

"You said yourself she's no good dead," Voice Two returned tartly. Lina's brain strained to remember where she had heard that voice before. "Without her eating, she'd surely die before I could get much more."

"You're a disappointment," Voice One remarked scathingly. "Once she's eaten, I expect at least another liter from her within the hour."

"You'll kill her," Voice Two protested. There was the sound of something hitting a table; probably the bag of blood.

"She's a vampire, turned by Vlad himself. Those so high up on the chain don't die that easily." There was a pause from Voice One. "You almost sound like you don't want to do this, Helena. Like you're trying to protect this little creature."

Helena! Lina's mind buzzed. She silently berated herself for not recognizing the voice earlier, but she had to blame her foggy, weak state at being slow on the uptake. It made sense, though. Helena's Slayers had been amongst those that had attacked the complex, after all. Lina's hunch that the platinum blond would be involved was proven correct.

"It's not her I want to protect," Helena spat darkly from her side of the room.

The other woman laughed. It was a sound that would have sent shivers up Lina's spine, if she had been strong enough to shiver.

"Oh, of course," the first voice purred. "How careless of me to forget your true… motivation." The figure shifted slightly. "Now get a line hooked up to her. I want her ready to go as soon as her food arrives."

"If I start it now, she'll most likely die before that wolf gets back with a human," Helena argued, confirming Lina's suspicions about the man's species. "He's probably sitting on his thumb right now, taking his sweet-ass time."

"There are alternatives," the voice cooed. Helena was silent. "Get the line ready," she continued darkly. "I'll go get something for this thing to eat."

The dark blur moved out of Lina's vision and disappeared through a door at a different end of the room from where she had originally entered. Helena's footsteps met Lina's ears next as the Slayer made her way over to the board Lina was strapped to. There must have been a tray nearby as whatever it was Helena had in her hands clicked against something to one side. Lina could vaguely make out the other woman's shape as Helena bent her head over the something.

Whatever it was Helena intended to do was cut short, however, as the door opened again.

"I figured that since you're in such a hurry for her to eat, I'd just grab the first available food source. I think this one will do nicely, don't you think?" Voice One announced as her dark shape ghosted back into Lina's limited vision. There was a sudden, squalling noise from something she clutched against her body that drained any remaining color from Lina's face. She didn't have to have been a mother to know that sound when she heard it. Something swung close to Lina's face and she smelled the strong aroma of old milk. If the crazy lady thought Lina was going to feed off a baby, she was sorely mistaken. She clenched her lips shut tightly.

"Stop! Stop, look, I'm doing it, okay?" An edge of panic crept into Helena's voice that Lina had never heard the woman use before. There was a sudden sting on Lina's arm as a needle sought out her cubital vein. "There, see? Please… just…" Lina felt tape being wrapped around her arm to hold the line in place as the infant gave another loud screech. "Just give him here…"

The dark shape that Lina identified as Helena moved toward Voice One. The other woman, however, whipped the child away from Lina's face and held him aloft, although by what Lina couldn't easily discern. She hoped it was swaddling.

"Uh-uh, little Slayer," the unidentified woman tutted. She pulled the bundle back into the crook of her arm. "I rather like him here. You just be a good little girl and do what you're told, or I will be ever so inclined to make this tasty morsel lunch for our guest."

"You bi-"

"Manners!" Voice One admonished, following her word with another peel of laughter that turned Lina's blood cold. "Swearing in front of a child. Ah, there's our pet now with some better aged food."

The door opened again and more dark forms emerged. Something was shoved forward roughly until it came into Lina's view. She could smell the fear on the human, even if she couldn't see its face. It was positioned fairly close to Lina's head, held down by the grouchy lycan to prevent escape.

"There," the man growled. "Now your little experiment can eat and we'll all be happy."

Lina did not take further inviting. It was better than being made to eat a child and she needed the blood to stay alive. With as much effort as she could muster, she latched herself onto the human's neck, instinct guiding her to the right spot.

"As soon as she's done, get to work," the Voice snapped. Lina vaguely registered footsteps leaving and an end to the incessant crying as the door shut behind the unknown woman.

* * *

"I was unaware you had children."

Helena's head snapped up from where she had been bent over a book open on a table. She said nothing, only gazed silently at Lina through her long, blond lashes.

Lina stared back unabashedly for a moment before breaking the contact to take a gander at the room she inhabited. She had fallen unconscious again after her feast and, although she still felt unbelievably weak, she at least had regained her senses upon waking back up.

The room was decently large, filled with countertops, glass-fronted cabinets, and various metal examination tables. Florescent lighting lined the ceiling; one of the bulbs flickered irritatingly in the corner in a feeble attempt to remain lit. There were no windows that Lina could see and only two doors sat in the far corners, facing one another across that side of the room. The place smelled strongly of dust, neglect, and latex gloves. Most of the counters were filled with instruments and glassware that Lina could only begin to guess at. This was a laboratory: Vlad's thing; Lucian's thing; not her thing.

Lina turned her eyes downward to survey her own body. At least she was still dressed and hadn't been pinned up to the table nude. That would have been pointlessly embarrassing. As it was, she had an unfortunate lack of foresight the night of the attack and was dressed in only shorts and a tank top. Breathable, flexible clothing, but it did little for protection. They had taken her shoes, though. She guessed it was easier to strap her ankles to the table if she wasn't wearing anything on her feet.

Ignoring that for now – there was nothing she could do about it anyway – Lina turned her attention to the rubber tube strapped to her arm. The small, clear line ran red with her blood as it dripped down into a collection bag hanging near her knee. The crazy woman in charge wanted her blood for something and was making Helena do it for something else.

Lina's lips thinned at the implication of that information. Something much deeper than Slayer-vampire hate was at work. She had a sinking suspicion the baby was part of it.

"How old is he?" Lina asked, lifting her eyes back to Helena. The woman was still regarding Lina through half-closed eyes, saying nothing.

When no reply came, Lina tried changing to subject. "Nice digs you've got here." She whipped her head around to indicate the laboratory. "I'm not much into science myself. I must say, though, this looks like a nice set up, if not very cleanly."

She was met with no response. Lina resisted the urge to grit her teeth and tried again. "I know you're not mute," she said dryly. "I've heard you speak a number of times. So unless you just play a pre-recorded track of insults, there's a voice in there somewhere."

Helena returned her eyes to her book, flipping a couple pages. Lina's eyes narrowed but she quickly wiped the expression off her face. As far as she could tell, it was only her and Helena in the room. If she could perhaps get her to talk, Lina could figure out what the hell was going on.

"So," she started in a rather casual tone, given the circumstances, "who is this Lady Lunatic?"

Helena did not respond more than to flick a page or two further into the tome.

"What are you reading?" Lina saw Helena's fingers twitch slightly in answer and quelled a momentary ripple of excitement. It wasn't much of a response, but it was a response none-the-less.

"It seems a bit hefty and old. I bet it's one of those books where all the 'S's look like fancy 'F's. Vlad has quite a few of those at the house. Well, if the house is still there, I guess." Lina tried to shift slightly to get more comfortable but to no avail. There really was no comfortable position when one was strapped vertically to a table, unless that person was into that sort of thing. Lina was not.

"Did you know the 'S' 'F' inconsistency came from a time when scribes used to write everything by hand. It was a fancy way to write 'S' without taking up as much space. When their writing was translated onto the printing press, the typesetters kept the 'F' instead of changing it back to an 'S.'" Lina tilted her head at the still unspeaking Helena.

"Listen," Lina tried again. "I'm not going to shut up until you start talking so you can either oblige me here or listen to me start rambling randomly until you go nuts. I'm pretty sure Captain Crazy has ordered you to keep an eye on me. Since neither of us are going anywhere any time soon, why not sit back and become better acquainted?"

Helena slammed the book closed suddenly and turned her icy eyes on the chatty vampress. "I have nothing to say to you," the young woman snarled.

"Oh, I was right! You can talk." Lina grinned at the Slayer. Helena glared back.

The Slayer approached the vampire a moment later and checked the level in the bag. She seemed satisfied and grabbed a hold of the tape pinning the needle into Lina's arm. She ripped it off unceremoniously then pulled the drip line from the bag, replacing it with a plug to effectively seal the contents in. Helena set it aside and took the line to a garbage bin nearby, tossing the tubing.

"A little warning next time?" Lina snapped. "That stings."

Helena barely glanced in Lina's direction.

"You're one of the most frustrating captors in existence, you know that?"

Helena raised her eyebrow slightly but gave no other reply.

"Where's the evil monologue outlining your sinister plot, the melodramatic back-story telling me why society has led you to this moment?" Lina struggled a little against her bonds but gave up as fatigue ran through her muscles. She had lost a considerable amount of blood. "You're not very good at this, you know."

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" Helena asked bitingly.

Lina beamed, showing her fangs. "No one would dare say it to my face."

"You talk far too much," Helena returned sourly.

"You don't talk enough. We're both stuck here; why not make the best of it?" Lina wriggled in place as if to make her point.

Helena merely shook her head at the vampire and went back to the large book on the table, flipping it open to the page she had left off on. Silence stretched throughout the laboratory, interrupted only by the papery sound of pages turning.

"Well?" Helena finally snapped, pausing with her page half turned.

Lina raised her brows. "Hm?"

"Don't you have some other annoying anecdote to tell me or some gibberish you feel necessary to rattle off?"

Lina shook her head slightly then cocked it to one side. "Not at the moment… distracted."

"Distracted?"

"The baby is crying again," Lina said softly. "Sounds hungry. They're probably not feeding him enough." The vampire saw Helena twitch out of the corner of her eye. The Slayer looked toward the door The Voice had taken the child through earlier. She appeared to be listening intently but it was obvious to Lina that Helena heard nothing. That didn't surprise the vampress; her hearing was superior to a human's.

"Who is he, Helena?" Lina asked quietly. All the high-spirited mockery was gone from her voice. "You're not the kind to take hostages; I've known you too long to assume I'm still alive by your choice. What's going on here? Who is that woman with the screws loose? And what the hell does she want with my blood?"

"It is none of your concern," Helena replied stiffly.

"It's _my_ blood! I'd say it very damn well is my business."

"It won't do any good to tell you, anyway. At the rate this is going, I'll have bled you to death before tomorrow." Helena checked her watch then headed toward a counter. She opened a drawer and started rummaging around, pulling out a fresh drip set.

Lina ground her teeth. She needed to do something soon to turn events in her favor or she would be dead long before anyone found her. It was a gamble, but Lina had already bet her life on the hunch that led her here. If it gained her an ally, giving the Slayer more information was a chance Lina would take.

"Helena," she started reproachfully. "We have been enemies since the moment you were born a van Hellsing. It doesn't have to be like this, I don't have to be your enemy."

"Spoken like a true prisoner," Helena muttered scornfully as she searched another drawer for a blood collection bag.

"Listen to me," Lina hissed. "Pretty soon this place is going to be descended upon by what remains of my coven and a whole butt-ton of lycans. What side do you want to be on when that happens?"

Helena rolled her eyes. "Like I'm going to fall for some stupid threat like that." The human curled her lip at Lina in disdain.

"You should fall for it, since it's true," Lina returned seriously. "You've been in control of the van Hellsing Slayers for what? Fifteen years?" She saw the corner of Helena's eye twitch slightly as if confirming the information. "How many times have you been able to actually lay a hand on me, let alone capture me? You did a good job ambushing me on New Year's Eve but how many other times have you even come _close_?" Lina watched as Helena's gaze turned inward in thought.

"What are you getting at?" the Slayer asked finally.

"I let you capture me." Lina shifted uncomfortably and grimaced as the bindings dug into her.

"You said yourself that I don't take hostages," Helena returned. "How would you have known I wouldn't have just killed you?"

"Call it intuition. Your continually aggressive attacks and ploys, the way you stole Aislyn's gloves, demanded my Animus, then fled before you had managed to take it… you're off your game, Helena. Most of us assumed you had completely lost your marbles. Something wasn't adding up. In all honestly, you seemed a lot more desperate than you've been for the last fifteen years. I figured that if you wanted me dead, you would have tried at the complex. When you didn't seem inclined to skewer me with something pointy, I had a feeling you'd take me back to the nest. This," Lina rolled her head around to indicate the lab, "wasn't exactly what I thought I would find."

Helena pursed her lips and glanced around at the laboratory. She looked uncertain, unsure of herself in that moment. "No one will find you here," she said finally, snagging her bag and line from the countertop. She started toward Lina as if trying to dismiss the information she had just received.

"I swallowed a tracking bug."

Helena's step faltered. "What?"

"I swallowed a tracking bug," Lina said more slowly. "It's beeping out little signals somewhere in my intestines by now, I bet. And it is linked to a device that made it safely out of the complex."

"You're lying." Helena's tone wasn't very convincing and she made no further move toward the vampire.

"I have no reason to lie to you." Lina clunked her head back against the table.

"Except to fool me into aiding you."

Lina barred her teeth a bit then lowered her head once more to look at Helena. "You have two choices right now. You can either follow the lead of Empress Evil-laugh and drain me dry for reasons you won't divulge, or you can get me off this damn table and let me help you get your son back before my people raze this place to the ground. I assure you, the more you help me, the longer you're going to live."

Helena's features hardened. "Nice try-"

"Who can you trust more?" Lina interrupted. "The woman who offers your son to a vampire or the vampire that doesn't try to bite him?"

Helena's mouth opened slightly then snapped shut. She looked away from the vampire, brows creased. Lina could read the turmoil of thought on the younger woman's face as clearly as if Helena were thinking out loud. Then, as though a string snapped somewhere, Helena threw the drip set and bag to one side. She moved purposefully toward Lina's table and started fumbling with the straps that held the vampire in place.

"You'd better not be lying to me," Helena snarled as she tore the restraints from Lina's wrists. The Slayer caught the vampress as Lina slumped down from the table, legs not quite supporting her weight yet. Helena pulled Lina's arm across her shoulders and snagged her around the waist. "And he's my nephew, not my son."

"Noted," Lina replied, eyeing the bag of blood nearby. "I'll take that back now, if you please. It might get me back on my own feet sooner."

Helena half dragged Lina over to a flat metal table, setting her on its edge. The Slayer grabbed the bag of blood and offered it to the vampire.

"Not to drink," Lina snapped. "Stick it in me." She held out the arm that hadn't been used to take the blood.

"It will take a little time," Helena said as she grabbed the previously discarded drip set.

"Try for at least half a bag. You can fill me in on some things while it's going."

The blond shook her head slightly in disbelief as she tied a tourniquet around Lina's arm. She yanked the cap off her needle with her teeth then inserted it into the vein. A bit of taping and fiddling later, and the blood started streaming back into its original owner.

Lina watched curiously as Helena worked. "You'd make an excellent phlebotomist."

"My uncle is a doctor. I paid attention," Helena explained simply. She checked the flow and seemed satisfied before turning her attention fully to Lina. "You have questions."

"Let's start with… what the _hell_ is going on here?" Lina waved her non-cathetered arm around. "And who is Sister Sinister?"

Helena rolled her eye slightly and took a deep breath. "She calls herself Lady Noapte." Helena glanced around as though afraid mentioning the name would bring the woman. When no one appeared, the Slayer continued. "She's crazy."

"I got that much," Lina retorted dryly. "What does she want with my blood?"

"Some sort of experimentation," Helena continued. "She knows you can stand sunlight and is trying to harness that ability for herself. So far she's had some mild success with her little pets but nothing has been translatable to herself."

Lina's brows twitched slightly. "She's a vampire? Wait… pets? Lycans?"

"No. She takes humans and half turns them into…" Helena made a gesture to indicate Lina.

"The Dolls?" Lina started to surge off of her table but Helena placed a firm hand on her chest and pushed her back.

"You pull this catheter out and I'll be forced to reinsert it somewhere you won't like."

Lina stilled but she visibly fumed. "So Naopte is the Doll Maker," she growled, clenching her fists. Helena smacked her knuckles.

"Relax or this will slow down," the human warned. "Anyway, whatever the hell you call them, she's been using them to figure out a way to become a daylight vampire. Or at least that's what I've been told. I'm not sure I trust much of what she says."

"Well, she'll have no luck using my blood for that," Lina muttered, trying to calm down. "If my blood held the secret, Vlad would have been a daywalker shortly after we met."

Helena merely grunted an acknowledgement.

"While we're being all open and buddy-buddy," Lina continued. "Why did you want the Animus?"

"Naopte." Helena's lips thinned. "Seems to think she can use it to further her cause."

"How would it help turn her into a daylight vampire?" Lina asked incredulously.

Helena shrugged. "I honestly think she's up to more than just finding a way to enjoy the sun. The sheer number of these puppets of her's, it's like she's amassing an army. For what purpose? You'd have to ask her."

"How many does she have?" Lina's tone became concerned.

"I don't know. This place is brimming with them. I hope your people bring a lot of backup."

"Where are we?" Lina asked next.

Helena sighed. "Brentwood."

Lina paled. "Seriously?"

Helena nodded. "Ironic, isn't it? An old abandoned insane asylum as the base for a crazy woman's attempt at God knows what."

"Brentwood was huge. They could fit hundreds of patients." Lina fidgeted. "If this place is full…" Lina shook off the panicky feeling starting to creep up her spine. "We'll just have to snag the baby and get out of here. We'll worry about the Dolls should it come to it."

Helena nodded absently as she rechecked the bag. "How much did you want me to put back into you before we go?" Her impatience was obvious.

Lina slid off the edge of the table, careful not to pull at the catheter, and tested her legs. Already she was starting to feel stronger with the combination of her own blood and natural healing ability. "I think that'll do."

A few moments and another stinging tape removal later, Lina was unhooked. She took a quick survey of herself; everything seemed to be in more or less working order. She was stiff from the board and still not up to her full strength, but time was of the essence and she didn't have a lot to spare to get fully well before they needed to move. "Where are my shoes?"

Helena glanced down at Lina's feet as if just then noticing that she was barefoot. "I honestly haven't the foggiest idea."

"Great," the elder woman grumbled. "Barefoot it is."

Lina watched Helena move toward a closet and pull out the holy blade she had stored within. The human quickly clipped it on. "I don't suppose," Lina hedged, "That there's some spare weapons in there, or shoes?"

Helena raised her eyebrows and turned back to the closet. She rummaged inside for a moment. "Lab coat. Lab coat. Lab coat. Pair of Daisy Duke's?" Helena pulled out the shorts and frowned. "Labeled 'Lyle'…"

"Uhm." Lina padded over and gazed down at the shorts. "As bizarre as that is, I can't exactly decapitate a lycan with it."

"All-powerful Vampire, indeed," Helena scoffed. She tossed the shorts to one side and went back to rummaging in the closet. "I don't see anything that you could actually use," she finally announced.

"I'll just have to pick something up along the way." Lina started searching the countertops as Helena closed the closet.

"What are you looking for now?"

Lina glanced up from a drawer she had pulled open. "A big, black marker."

The Slayer frowned. "Shouldn't we be going?" Helena had good reason to be edgy but Lina really needed one more thing before they could step out that door.

"There are lycans here, yes?" Another drawer was yanked unceremoniously open, it's contents rifled through.

"Yes. An ambitious pack that led us to you," Helena confirmed.

"Well, if we're going to make it through here with only a sword and no other weaponry, I'm going to need a big, black marker." Lina leveled an urgent stare at Helena. "So help me find one!"

The younger woman glowered at the vampire but moved around the room, pulling open drawers and looking inside cabinets. "Ah!"

Lina turned in time to see Helena snag a long, thin something from one of the drawers on the far side of the laboratory. The Slayer handed it over and Lina quickly uncapped it and tested the ink by dotting her leg. It was nice and moist.

"Perfect!" Lina turned her left hand over so she was looking at her palm. With her other hand, she started doodling. Helena watched with barely hidden curiosity as strange symbols started scrawling out from a pentagram. The swirling, abstract lettering ran down the entire length of Lina's fingers, then continued along the back of her hand. She drew an identical pentagram on the back of her hand, then switched the pen to the left and repeated the process on her right hand.

"They're not gloves but they'll work for now," Lina said grimly. She shoved the pen into her pocket, just in case, and flexed her ink-covered hands slightly to dry them.

"If it works like that, why not just get a tattoo?" Helena questioned practically.

"I don't like needles," Lina returned flatly. "Ready?" she added quickly before the Slayer could make any comment regarding how ridiculous that statement was for a vampire to make. Helena nodded once. "Then let's get this show on the road."

They exited the laboratory into a long hallway dotted with nondescript doorways. At the far end of the hall the path took a sharp left turn. Carefully, they made their way along the corridor, feet making little noise on the old linoleum. The solid wood doors remained closed and neither bothered to look inside them.

Lina kept her ears tuned on the sound of the crying child somewhere in the distance. They paused only long enough at each door for Lina to listen but it was obvious to the vampire that the baby was not in this hallway.

When they reached the turn, both women flattened themselves to the wall. Cautiously, Lina poked around the edge to get a glimpse of the hallway beyond. She whipped back into place quickly and turned to Helena. She held up two fingers, then mouthed the word 'lycans.' Helena nodded her understanding. She started to move but Lina's arm shot out, stopping Helena from drawing her sword.

Quickly, Lina started tracing her finger in the air in front of her face. Helena had seen magic working before – after all, Aislyn had been spell-casting on Christmas – but she still watched in fascination as lines of red were left wherever Lina's finger moved. She opened her mouth to ask what Lina was doing but the elder held her other hand to her mouth to shush the Slayer. Lina pointed to her eyes to indicate Helena should just observe.

Slowly, soundlessly, Lina slipped to the edge of the wall where it turned the corner. She held one hand palm up, the floating symbol hovering above it as though she were really carrying it. As she reached the corner, Lina crouched and peered around the edge, pulling the symbol around in front of her face. She took aim and made a quick pushing motion with her other hand. The symbol zoomed from away Lina down the hallway. It landed on the arm of one of the lycans and sizzled.

The lycan howled momentarily, scrabbling at his arm where the symbol blazed red. His companion gawked at him, startled by his friend's suddenly odd behavior. Then, without warning, the marked lycan tackled his compatriot to the ground. There was a moment of confused scuffling during which Lina's chosen wolf finally managed to dominate the other, effectively pinning him beneath his weight.

"Now we go," Lina said smugly, standing and making her way around the corner quickly. Helena followed closely behind. As they approached the two wolves on the floor, Lina aimed a sharp kick at the ribs of the one she controlled. His reply was not suitable for polite company.

"Shut up," Lina snapped back. She twisted her controlling fist slightly and the man groaned in pain, gritting his sharp teeth up at the two women. "Because of you cowardly dogs, my home lies in ruins. You're going to do exactly what I say and you're going to do it without hesitation."

Lina crouched down next to the men. The uncontrolled lycan started struggling furiously under the hands of his friend. "And we only need one of you," she continued softly. The second wolf stilled, eyes going wide. "So tell me… which one of you knows where we can find a baby in this place?"

The cacophony of noise that erupted from the lycans was incoherent as they each tried to explain what they knew simultaneously. The Hunter rolled her eyes. "One at a time," she ordered. "You," she flicked the bottom wolf between the eyes with her fingers.

"Last I heard," he said quickly, "the lady was taking him upstairs, to one of the rooms. Please, I have a family," he added pitifully.

"Then you should have thought of that before you switched sides," Lina snarled. She bared her own fangs at him. "My son lost his wife in the attack you idiots caused. In some countries, that means I get to kill one of your relatives."

The man whimpered. His friend, although bodily controlled, still had his cognitive faculties. "It wasn't our choice," he defended, albeit weakly. "We were following orders."

"That's what the Nazi's said," Helena murmured from where she stood, keeping an eye open for any approaching enemies. She kept her hand firmly on her hilt, ready to draw at a moment's notice. "We got what we need, just kill them already," she added blandly to the vampire.

"With what? My deadly black marker?" Lina replied scornfully. She eyed the two lycans for a long moment during which both men watched her nervously. Finally, Lina started poking around the top lycan's jacket. She found the buckle to a gun holster and took the weaponry. She quickly attached it to herself.

"Pull him up," she ordered the commanded lycan. He obeyed robotically. She then repeated her search for weapons on the second one, gaining a set of long knives, sheaths, and straps. Geared up, she surveyed the hallway carefully before selecting a nice, blank wall. Pulling out her marker, she started drawing.

Soon, a large pentagram was etched onto the space along with a number of symbols. She motioned for Helena to join her on the far side of the lycans. Once the Slayer was in place, the older woman spoke a few, harsh and guttural words then flicked her fingers outward. There was a flash of red from the wall.

When their vision cleared, both women looked down at the limp forms of the two lycans.

"They're still breathing," Helena accused, fingering her sword.

Lina tilted her head at Helena, brows narrowed. "It wasn't meant to kill them. It's a containment field. They won't be able to leave once they wake up."

"You should kill them," Helena admonished.

"They aren't to blame for this." Lina shook her head sadly and spun on her heel, heading down the hallway toward a door at the end. "Lycans are nearly incapable of disobeying a direct command from their leader."

Helana stared at Lina's back for a moment before following. "You're a Hunter, have you no respect?"

Lina paused and glanced over her shoulder at the Slayer. She tried not to laugh at the bewildered expression on the woman's face. After fifteen years of rivalry, it was hard to remember that Helena was hardly any older than Lina's own daughter. For a human, that was younger middle age, but not yet old enough to really be world-wise.

"Helena." Lina sighed and gave the other woman a smirk that showed her elongated fangs. "Don't be a hypocrite." Then, without waiting for Helena's response, Lina snagged the handle and pulled the door open. "Let's go find your nephew and blow this popsicle stand."

* * *

Aislyn watched the city lights flash by her window. Although she tried to flatten her boots to the floorboard, one leg jiggled nervously in place. A sudden, firm hand on her leg stopped the motion and she turned to look at Lucian. He squeezed her knee once and tried his best to give her a reassuring smile. It looked more like a grimace.

In the front seat, oblivious to the tension behind him, Vlad shifted gears and checked the GPS unit on the radio console. They had entered the information into it as soon as they had piled into the Bentley and had been diligently following the beacon for the last hour or so. They were making good time, although they had to go slower than anyone wanted in order for the caravan truck to keep up. They didn't want to leave the lycans in the dust, after all.

Behind them, crammed into one of the trucks, rode Lucian's pack. They had decided to leave one of the transports and the hotel van behind, just incase they needed to call in more troops. It was mostly a futile gesture since it would take their remaining soldiers too long to get to the location should the main group need them. The only one able to stand the daylight that had not come was Nagire; his devastation at losing Tekala had cut deeply and he was secluding himself from others. Plus, he had never been much of a fighter and thought he would merely slow everyone else down.

There had been arguments regarding the lycans when it came time to load the van. Lucian had feuded internally about the presence of both his niece and Dubas with the troops. The former was so young and inexperienced, Lucian worried she would get herself into trouble. The latter had one nearly useless arm. It had taken both of their stubborn refusals to leave the truck to convince Lucian that they meant business and he acquiesced to their request to go along. He had pulled Raze aside, though, with strict instructions that, should anything aggressive happen at their destination, both the weaker lycans were not to be left on their own.

"We should be there in half an hour," Vlad announced from the front as he checked the console once again.

"Any idea where 'there' is?" Aislyn returned. She slipped her hand over Lucians, feeling the bumps of his knuckles idly with her fingertips.

"That's the odd thing." Vlad spared a quick look back at the two in the rear seat before returning his eyes to the road. "It's in an area that, if I remember correctly, is mostly country. We're nearly out of the city again, as it is."

"Mostly?" Aislyn pressed. "Obviously there's something there if it's not just grass and trees."

"There _was_ something there but it's been empty for…" Vlad's voice faded as he thought. "Long before you were born," Vlad finally settled on his answer. "I don't understand why she would go there."

"What was it?" Lucian beat Aislyn to the question.

Vlad's lips went thin. "Brentwood."

The word meant nothing to Lucian, but Aislyn's hand gripped his suddenly. The lycan flinched slightly as her fingernails dug into his skin.

"Brentwood Institute?" Aislyn questioned sharply. "That place is still standing?"

Lucian carefully extracted his hand from under hers. He chaffed his hands together a bit before studying Aislyn's suddenly stiff posture. "Dare I ask what Brentwood Institute was?" he interjected. Obviously it wasn't a good place or both the vampires wouldn't have been treating its existence with the seriousness they were using. Lucian, however, had very little clue as to what it was supposed to signify.

"Crazy House," Aislyn explained flatly. "Fairly well known in our local history. You were probably underground when it became exposed."

Lucian raised his brows. "Care to clarify?"

"You probably didn't watch many movies when in hiding, did you?" Aislyn asked instead. When Lucian shook his head, she sighed. "It was the sort of place Hollywood would vaguely base a psychological thriller on. Imagine a place where people are not in their right minds, kept by the hundreds in small quarters. Locked up, abused, and_ experimented_ on. That was Brentwood."

"It's not difficult to picture," Lucian replied bitterly. "Sounds like a day living with Viktor," he explained when Aislyn looked at him in question. Understanding dawned on her face and she reached across to squeeze his hand more gently than she had earlier. He captured the hand and held it between his own. "But go on," he urged.

"It was shut down in the 60's." It was Vlad that picked up the course of the conversation. "Some government agents stumbled onto what they were doing there and brought it into the open. Brentwood was emptied and condemned. The doctors in charge were prosecuted; many of them were striped of their titles and sentenced to jail time for crimes against humanity."

"I'm sure it did little to promote the necessity of group-home care for the ailing," Lucian murmured as he thought that over.

Vlad laughed, although the sound held no mirth. "Funny thing, though," he continued. "They never did find the director. Some say he committed suicide and was buried with all the other bodies, somewhere on the institute's massive grounds. Others say he still haunts the hallways and wards of the building, driving any who enter into madness. Or they go in and they never come out."

Aislyn rolled her eyes. She leaned toward Lucian slightly. "He used to tell me these ghost stories when I was a little girl," she said in a loud whisper.

"Part of it is true, though," Vlad insisted. "They never did find out who was in charge of the entire thing, and locals refuse to go into the building even in the middle of the day. There's a bad feeling about the place, a dark, foreboding aura that floats around it."

"Have you been in it?" Lucian asked, curious despite the situation.

"No." Vlad shook his head. "I never had any desire. It is merely an old, abandoned shell. What use would I have in there?"

Lucian could see the logic behind Vlad's reasoning. The lycan reflected that he himself would probably have ignored its existence unless it became an asset.

"Why would Lina go there?" Vlad voiced again. "You're certain the coordinates were correct?"

"Positive," Aislyn confirmed. She exchanged a glance with Lucian. "Daddy, there's a chance that Mother isn't hiding with the rest of our coven…"

"I'm well aware of that," Vlad snapped, then immediately apologized. "This entire fiasco is too suspicious. I just wish she had told me what she was up to. I do not mean to be short with you." He cast a remorseful look at his daughter. She forgave him readily.

"We're all up-in-arms about this. I'm just glad we have the lycans." Aislyn felt Lucian press her hand gently and she smiled at him, although the expression quickly faded under the weight of the severity of their state of affairs. "We'll be there soon and we will need our entire assets ready just in case." She did not elaborate on 'in case of what' but it did not need to be said aloud. Everyone had a terrible feeling regarding what they were about to walk into.

* * *

Lina stopped so abruptly that Helena had to scramble to avoid smacking into her.

"What is it?" the Slayer hissed sharply, glancing around the deserted corridor they stood in. It was nearly identical to all the other corridors they had traversed, except the wallpaper was yellow and peeling.

Lina held up a hand to silence her companion, head cocked to one side, listening intently. "He's stopped." The Hunter glanced around the hallway. Near the far end there was a door labeled 'stairs.' "But I'm pretty sure he was just a level up from here. Come on."

The two women tore up the stairway, pausing on the landing for the next floor. Lina glanced through the tiny glass window into the hallway beyond. She didn't see anything except the wall across the corridor. That wasn't very helpful. She flexed her fingers and spat a few syllables toward the symbols on her hands. The ink throbbed momentarily.

"There are lycans in the hallway," she reported after the drawings faded to normal. Lina looked up at Helena. The other woman's lips were pursed in thought. "What is it?"

"Your magic is different than what I've seen your daughter do. You're a strange woman," Helena explained.

"That is because only half of her magic is Hunter magic while the other half is witchcraft," Lina replied with a shrug. "Unlike my offspring, Helena, _I _am full Hunter. And," she added with a slight self-satisfied smirk, "I'm also a Gates."

"That makes a difference?" Helena cocked a brow.

"Of course. My people specialized in lycan manipulation and detection. Few other Hunters can do it as well as myself, or even as well as Aislyn." Lina gave the Slayer a smug look. "I'm the van Hellsing of Hunters."

Helena bristled slightly at the reference but smoothed herself out quickly. Lina may have not been modest about her own standing, but Helena was fairly certain the comment was meant to be a compliment, even if a backhanded one. "So how many are out there?"

Lina regarded her hands again, muttering something guttural. "Only two. Nothing we can't handle."

"Plan on knocking them unconscious again?" Helena asked with a certain amount of contempt.

"Yes." Lina gave the younger woman a challenging stare. "Too many have died already."

Helena scoffed in the back of her throat, shook her head, but did not argue. "You've gone soft."

Lina shrugged again and took a firm grip on the door. She pulled it open and stepped into the hallway.

Her arrival was not unnoticed by the two wolves a few doors down. They had been standing outside of a door as if on guard duty, talking in low tones to one another. The sudden appearance of both the Hunter and the Slayer was met with uncertainty. They did not have much time to dwell on it, however, as both men abruptly flew across the hallway to smack into the opposite wall.

Lina unfisted her hands and let the bodies slump to the ground. The force of impact had been enough to knock them out. The Hunter brushed her hands together briefly then turned toward the door the men had been guarding. Helena already had her hand on the knob. With a glance back to check that Lina was ready, the Slayer pushed the door open and stepped inside.

It was empty. Both women frowned at the interior. It used to be a patient's room based on the sparse furnishings. There was a bassinet in the center of the room, however, that was definitely not for a former mental patient. Lina reached into the bedding, laying her palm onto the sheets.

"It's still warm," she murmured. "He was here not long ago."

"Can you track him?" Helena demanded.

"Is he a lycan?" Lina returned hotly. "Don't be an idiot."

"Don't make me regret letting you off that table," Helena warned, fingering her sword.

"We'll just have to keep looking. The sun is nearly up. Naopte won't take it out of the complex or she'll fry. He's got to be in the hospital somewhere." Lina glanced around for a minute. "You know her better than I do. Where would she be taking him?"

"Back to the lab to mock me." Helena's voice was flat.

"Then we need to get our bottoms back down those stairs, don't we?"

Without hesitation, the two women bolted from the room and made for the stairs. They skipped down the flight two or three steps at a time, losing elevation rapidly as they went. They raced down previously passed hallways and through more stairwells. In less than half the time it had taken them to get up to that floor, they found themselves back in their original hallway.

They burst into the laboratory only to find it was as unoccupied as it had been when they left it. The string of swears Helena spat out made Lina look at her reproachfully.

"Was your uncle also a sailor?" the vampire asked with feigned curiosity. She received Helena's scowl as an answer. "Where else would she go?"

"With Chase?" The Slayer threw her hands up helplessly. "She's never gone wandering off with him before as far as I know."

A sharp beep rang out through the room causing both women to flinch and spin. The room was still empty but they could hear the squall of a child as clearly as if he were next to him.

"The PA system," Helena muttered, pointing out the speaker above the door that was emitting the crying infant's voice.

"Where is the microphone for that thing?" Lina asked instantly.

Helena started to shake her head when the sound of the baby grew fainter, as if it were being taken away from the mic. It was replaced with a voice that made Lina's blood run cold: Naopte. "Oh, Helena. I must say, you're turning into a large, disappointing liability. Just a few minutes ago I find that my precious guinea pig wasn't where I left her, and neither were you. I truly hope you're working on tracking her down. You had better be." The baby's screech returned full force. As if an afterthought, Naopte returned to the microphone momentarily. "You have an hour to bring her to the cafeteria. If you fail…" Chase's scream returned to the sound system. The reverberating bawl of the defenseless child curdled Lina's stomach and her eyes hardened.

"Feel like having some lunch?" she asked Helena, drawing one of her newly acquired guns.

"I could eat," Helena replied darkly, knuckles white on the hilt of her sword.

* * *

They approached the abandoned asylum on high alert. Although killing the headlights would have prevented anyone from seeing their approach, it was impossible to mask the diesel of the convoy truck. If anyone was on watch outside the building, they would hear the vehicles. So instead of useless gestures to try to remain concealed, they decided to just show up with guns drawn and eyes blazing.

The small army exited their vehicles quickly, looking to their leaders for direction. By Lucian's word, the lycans were to follow any orders given by Vlad as well as from their queen. It was more of a formality than anything else that they were told to do so. Everyone had been working together long enough to know that Lucian endorsed his father-in-law's status of command.

They spread out slightly as they approached the large, iron-wrought front gates of Brentwood. One gate hung pitifully on its bottom hinge, the top hinge having rusted away countless years before. The other door was already open toward the facility's front grounds. A tangle of thick scrubby weeds held it in place. Cautiously, the immortals crept passed it, examining the surroundings with distrust.

The entire front lawn was a snarl of overgrown grass, weeds, and bushes. The paving stones that made up the walk were barely discernable under the wild plants that chose to grow between the chinks. The large building that sat before them was a tale of neglect. The windows had all been boarded up. Large chunks of wall plaster lay in heaps beneath the gaping spaces left behind, revealing a brick skeleton. It looked as though part of the roof had collapsed over what would have been the west wing. They paused outside the front door to decide if that would be their best point of entry.

"You know," Vlad mused quietly to the group nearest him. "If Lina were with us, she would make some silly comment about this." He allowed himself a small smile. "Something along the lines of 'This is how horror movies start.'"

"Well, it's a good thing she's not here to remind us how creepy this is," Aislyn returned sarcastically, eyeing the building with growing apprehension. "Why are there no guards?"

"There are," Raze graveled near her right ear. "I can smell lycans out here."

Aislyn's eyes flicked around but saw nothing. "Then why are they not doing something about us?"

"Lucian." Raze replied easily.

"They'll betray him but not move directly against him?" Aislyn's eyes narrowed.

"Most likely they're afraid to attack," Dubas explained, joining in on Aislyn's other side. "Unless someone like Mayson orders them to attack us, they'll be too chicken to make a move." The one-armed lycan spat into the overgrown grass with disgust. "Cowards, the lot of them."

"I'd much rather they remained where they were than make any direct move against me." Lucian appeared nearby. "It is not their fault they have obeyed a corrupt leader. It takes a lot of willpower to disobey someone you have followed for so long. Not everyone can be Trina." He sent a smile at the eavesdropping blond who had been skulking behind Raze. She returned it timidly.

"What's our plan?" Raze asked, steering the conversation back to the present problem. In the near distance, Vlad was tinkering with the front door handle. Apparently it was locked.

"We're going to stay together," Lucian explained quietly. "There are too few of us to split our forces without risk. Vlad is working toward getting the door open as quietly as he can. The lycans at the periphery know we're here but I do not know if they've alerted anyone else inside."

"If there is a chance they already know we're here, why are we being so quiet?" Michael joined them, followed by Selene. Her eyes had adopted their pale blue sheen and her fangs were starting to poke out below her top lip.

"Because there is a chance they have _not_ been alerted," Lucian explained, slightly annoyed. "There is the possibility that we have not been attacked due to some over-riding loyalty to me. If that's the case, they will have kept our presence a secret."

"There are too many 'ifs' involved," Selene muttered, crossing her arms.

"Agreed," Lucian replied, teeth bared slightly at the situation. He glanced toward the door at the sound of a light click. Vlad stood from his crouch and pushed half of the double doors open. He motioned for the rest to follow then vanished into the dark space beyond.

Eyes quickly adjusted as the last of their party slunk into the lobby of the hospital. The last one through closed the door behind them.

The room they stood in was roughly rectangular, longer than it was wide. To one side, a sign pointed to restrooms. The other wall held only old portraits of doctors long removed from the building, their names engraved on dust-covered metal plates below their severe frames. The wallpaper was gaudy flower print that had gone out of style long before the facility had been condemned.

In front of them stood the receptionist's cubicle. Thick plates of glass separated the space from the rest of the room. To one side sat a large, metal door with a tiny window that lead into the rest of the building. It was to this door that Vlad went. He peeked through the window into more darkness then tried the handle. It did not budge.

He moved next to the glass-fronted office. There was a small space between the counter top and one panel, through which paperwork could be passed: a safeguard for the secretaries that would have worked in the small room. "There's probably a door release on the other side," Vlad mused, eyeing the space carefully. There was no conceivable way he would fit through without taking the time to transform. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the others, wondering if they had the time to waste while he turned himself into a bat or smoke, or something.

"Why not vanish and reappear, as you did in the kitchen?"

Vlad raised his eyebrows at Selene as the woman came up and ran a hand over the dusty countertop. Even she was too thick to squeeze through the small space. "Ah, no," he replied.

"That's a parlor trick," Aislyn supplied.

"It is not a trick," Vlad defended crossly.

"He doesn't actually go anywhere," Aislyn reiterated. "He only disappears to your sight. He was still standing there. Any actual Gating takes some time; it's a sad truth about magic. It isn't a very instantaneous sort of thing like movies make it out to be."

Vlad nodded his agreement, a little perturbed that Aislyn had revealed the truth behind his popping in and out of sight. It was one of his favorite tricks. "Regardless, we either need to take the time now to magic someone through there or we need to start making some noise and break some glass."

A small voice cleared her throat behind them and the vampires looked back. Trina stood nearby, eyeing the opening grimly. " 'Scuse me," she requested as she slipped past them. She planted her hands on the counter top and hopped, pulling her knees up to her chest. Contorting only a little, she swung her legs through the opening. Her momentum carried her straight through as she flattened herself to the counter top. She landed on the other side with a soft 'whump.' Standing, she turned and smirked at them. She was, after all, the smallest person present, weighing hardly more than the standard Olympic gymnast.

"And you didn't want to bring me," she said smugly.

"Apologies," Lucian murmured. "Now find the release button."

The small lycan nodded and starting scouring the nurses' station. She edged near the door that led into the hallway and froze, frowning. She pressed her ear the jamb.

"What is it?" Vlad asked, frowning. He moved to the metal door and peered through the window but saw only darkness. He motioned for Lucian to come and look. "Your eyes are probably better suited."

Lucian glanced but shook his head. "I see nothing." The lycan moved back to the opening in the glass. "Trina, what is it?"

"I hear something," she hissed back, eyes slightly wide. "There's something in this hallway."

"You mean 'someone,'" Selene suggested, moving to the metal door. She pressed her ear to its jamb, frowning.

Trina, however, shook her head firmly. "Whatever it is, it isn't a person. Not one I recognize. There's a strange, eerie… _moan_. Like in zombie movies." There was an edge of fear in the young woman's voice.

"Find the release," Lucian ordered again, pointing through the thick panes of glass into the room Trina occupied. "Whatever is guarding the hallway won't be any sort of match for what's standing in here." He swept his hand around to indicate the heavily armed troops. Trina nodded quickly and started poking around the desk again.

After a moment of silence in which everyone strained their ears for the sound Trina had heard, there was a buzz and a click. The door had unlocked. Vlad pulled it open with one hand, the other pointed his gun into the dark hall. Somewhere in the distance, like wind blowing against an old tree, a deep groan wafted toward them. Without the barrier of the door in the way, the sound became rather apparent.

Carefully, weapons drawn, the party started to creep down the hallway into the darkness. Trina came out of the small room to join them, sticking to Raze like a fuzzy seed on a cotton sock. They passed rooms that looked like doctor's offices. Each door they passed brought the group to a halt as those in the lead edged around and into the rooms, guns preceding them. Once the room was deemed clear, they moved on. Anyone who didn't know any better would have thought they were a SWAT team narrowing in on a sting-operation. They moved methodically, covering each other automatically without a single word being spoken.

Their progress was occasionally waylaid by the moan that waivered from somewhere beyond. It never seemed to get much louder but at the same time, it did not always seem to come from the same direction. Nerves were raw as they paused to listen intently to the sound before progressing further into the dark corridor.

"Daddy," Aislyn breathed after another fifteen minutes of checking rooms and listening to the God-awful noise of the groan.

"Hm?"

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is that light up ahead?"

There was some shuffling in the line behind them. Lucian sidled up next to her and squinted at the distance. "I think you're right."

Vlad, too, was staring intently into the distance. They had some ambient light from the moon that shone through the open doors of the offices – not every window retained all of the boarding and some of the planks had rotted enough to fall off, exposing the old, wavy window glass - but this light was different. There was a vague glow, an unnatural type of light that usually indicated florescent bulbs. "I see it, too," Vlad confirmed. He paused as another groan floated around them. If it had been even the slightest bit windy, they would have been able to write that sound off but it was still as death outside.

"Pow-wow," he said suddenly, motioning to the other high-ups to gather around him. "Aislyn, can you detect any lycans in that direction?"

The woman shook her head grimly. "There's too many lycans amongst us, I'd get mixed readings. I'm not as good as Mother."

"I suspected as much." Vlad rubbed his chin slightly. "Let's figure out what we know then we can figure out a plan based on that," he suggested to the group. No one argued so he pushed on. "As suspected earlier, Mayson's lycans have been detected on the outside of the building-"

"As far as we know, they're Mayson's," Raze interrupted. "They could be from packs outside of the area, although that's less likely."

"Regardless," Vlad continued, "there are lycans present. Most likely, we have some inside as well. Lina is somewhere in this building and was taken most likely by the Hunters and or Slayers that attacked the coven. Given Mayson's suspected betrayal, there is some odd alliance between some werewolves and the Slayers and Hunters. The reason behind that…" Vlad shrugged. "That's not important at the moment. What's important is knowing what we're up against."

"We've been inside for near half an hour," Lucian picked up the thread. "If the lycans outside have alerted anyone inside, those inside have not moved to find us. Or, if they know where we are, they have not made an outward move against us."

"There's a light up ahead, so the building _is_ occupied," Aislyn supplied. "Otherwise, why would the power be on?"

"It could be a trap," Selene opined. "Lure us toward the light like moths to a flame."

"Potentially," Vlad agreed. "I have not seen any alternative route, however, besides continuing down this path. So trap or not, unless we intend to leave the building and find an different route inside, we're stuck going this way or not going at all."

Their conversation died momentarily while another eerie groan drifted over their heads.

"Then there's whatever the hell that thing is," Dubas added when the noise faded.

"I think there is more than one." Eyes turned toward Michael. His eyes were black, his head tilted to one side as if listening intently. He looked halfway between normal and transforming; it was unnerving to see partially distorted features and hear his voice half guttural, half coherent. Coupled with his thick accent and it was difficult to understand him. His features rapidly melted back to human, his mouth pressed thin. "I hear pretty well when I'm… you know." He made a vague gesture with a hand and the others nodded in understanding. "The noises are not all the same."

Another groan sounded and everyone listened intently for a long, silent moment. Aislyn turned to Lucian, eyebrow raised. "I can't hear it but your hearing is better."

Lucian shook his head. "Not without fully transforming and I don't want to waste more time getting indecent. I'm inclined to believe Michael." The lycan flicked his eyes toward he hybrid. "There's more than one."

"So what do we do?" Trina breathed from Raze's elbow. She was gripping his arm, her knuckles white. She was doing her best to conceal her fear but the lycans could smell it. It was making everyone edgy.

"We go on," Vlad replied firmly. "Just be aware that we might be getting into something way over our heads."

"I think we can manage," Selene commented blandly, pulling her guns from their leg holsters. She had put them away when they stopped to discuss their plan. "Compared to Marcus and William, I cannot imagine anything worse lies beyond this hallway."

"She's got a point," Michael said almost lightly.

"Let us hope so." Vlad jerked his head at the group before turning and striding down the hallway.

The corridor terminated at a sharp right that ran directly into another metal door. It was through its small square glass window that the light shone. The combined immortals slipped toward it silently. Vlad leaned himself next to the window on one side while Lucian copied his position on the other. The older man took a quick peek through the window.

"Empty," he murmured, motioning for Lucian to look, too. The lycan obliged and frowned.

"Lights are on, though," he returned. "So someone must be home."

"What's in there?" Aislyn asked from behind them somewhat impatiently.

"Looks like a common-room." Vlad returned his eyes to the window. "There are some small tables and chairs, barred windows, that sort of lovely interior decorating one can expect in this kind of place."

"Shall we go in so the rest of us can bask in their certainly impeccable taste?" Selene shifted with annoyance.

Aislyn raised her eyebrows at the stoic Viral. "Did you just make a joke?"

"It's your bad influence," Lucian quipped.

"If I didn't know better I'd claim you're saying I have a bad sense of humor," Aislyn retorted.

"Enough," Vlad snapped. "The peanut gallery has closed for the evening. Let's try to be serious for once." Aislyn muttered an apology while Vlad tried the handle on the door. It did not budge but that was not unexpected. "Well, there is no window for Trina to wriggle through here. Do we continue to be quiet, or shall we just blast the handle off?"

"I'd prefer stealth," Aislyn replied frankly. "If this were a trap set up to take us out, I don't think they would have locked the door." She turned to Michael. "Can you yank this thing open? I think you're probably the strongest here when transformed. Plus you don't have to take your pants off to do it."

The hybrid glanced around self-consciously. "I can try," he offered. "Just let me…" It took him a minute of focus to bring his transformed self to light. He was still getting used to doing it on command and it took a little concentration. Once his bones finally settled into their new positions, he shook himself and stepped forward to grasp the handle of the door. The moment he touched it, however, he pulled his hand away, hissing.

Confused, Lucian put a finger on the door and mimicked Michael's reaction.

"Silver?" Aislyn frowned while Lucian jammed his finger into his mouth. Nearby, Selene was inspecting Michael's rapidly healing hand as his form reverted to its human shape. Apparently he had inherited a lycan's aversion to the material.

Aislyn crouched down next to the handle and ran her fingers over it. "This is new," she reported. "Why install a silver handle?"

"To keep lycans out?" Vlad proposed.

"Yes, but why?" Lucian waved his hand slightly as if that would rid him of the sting. A moan drifted around again.

"Or maybe they're keeping something _in,_" Vlad mused, moving to allow his daughter better access to the handle. "Something that doesn't like silver."

"That's assuming the handle on the other side of the door is also silver," said Lucian.

"It is," Aislyn confirmed, both hands gripping the device tightly. "Just give me a sec here." Her eyes narrowed and she clutched her bottom lip between her teeth as she concentrated on the handle between her hands. A low noise - metal sliding on metal - whispered into the silence as she slowly, almost laboriously, drew the silver bolt out of the catch. There was a sudden click and Aislyn used the handle to pull herself into a standing position. She wiped a bit of perspiration off her forehead with a hand and gave her father a sharp nod.

Without another word, the group progressed through the now unlocked door into the room beyond. They held their weapons at ready, slipping into the room like police making a bust. The room was as unoccupied as it had looked from the hallway.

It was a roughly square chamber filled with tables and chairs. A small kitchenette sat along one wall. After a moment of investigation, someone pointed out a plaque that indicated the room was a staff break room of some sort.

"Hey!"

Aislyn nearly jumped at Trina's excited call. The young lycan was standing near a corner opposite the tiny kitchen. The vampress, along with many others, hurried over to see what she had found. Near ceiling was an intricate metal grate, an old fashioned ventilation register.

"What?" Lucian asked sharply when everyone had gathered to gawk at the grate.

"Wait for it," Trina said smugly, pointing toward the grating. The group fell silent as they stood there, waiting for enlightenment. A few looked around nervously, as though they expected to be caught at any moment. Then, from the register, came a low, warbling groan.

"There must have been more in the hallway we didn't see in the darkness," Lucian reflected, rubbing his chin.

"That would explain why we keep hearing it from different directions." Aislyn sent one more look up at the grate then turned her attention to the rest of the room. "So whatever these things are, they may not be anywhere near us. That's comforting."

"We should keep moving," Vlad added, jerking his head toward the inner wall of the room. "There's only one other door out of here and I think we should take a look at it."

The party moved purposefully toward the wall indicated. A large set of metal double doors sat unlocked between them and the next room, which turned out to be no larger than a standard jail cell. Opposite the staff room doors was an identical set of double doors.

"This is a safety room," Vlad murmured, glancing around it. "A sort of antechamber for whatever lies beyond."

"A ward of some sort," Aislyn added, pointing to the plaque above the door with a giant 'A' stamped onto it.

"Is it locked?" Lucian questioned. He dared not touch the handles after the last time.

Aislyn tried the door and nodded. "Silver, too." She frowned and crouched down to repeat her silver manipulation.

"This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Trina grumbled from somewhere in the group. A couple lycans nodded their agreement although they did not vocalize their opinions.

The lock clicked and Aislyn stood again. "There." She pulled a few strands of damp hair off her face, tucking them back. Her ability to move the silver took a great deal of effort and it showed. Vlad opened the door and they filed into the ward.

It was another long hallway, but wider so that at least four could walk abreast. Either side of the hall was lined with shut doors. No windows looked into the rooms, although little doors were placed about head height on each of the large doors so one could open a flap and peer inside. Each of those was currently closed. Above them, lights flickered, dully illuminating the walk. At the far end stood another set of double doors and a stamped 'B' above to indicate another ward lay beyond.

About halfway down the hallway, another hall split to the right, leading to another set of doors that led further into the building. The group paused there to decide which way they should go.

While the older members of the group were deep in discussion, Trina started to poke around the hallway. She went and looked through the doors on the far end of the hallway and saw nothing of particular note. There was another safety chamber, another set of doors, and she couldn't make out what was beyond that as the lights were off. With a shrug, she checked out the off-shooting hallway with much the same results. She wondered vaguely why the lights were on in this area but not in the other part.

Curious, she looked to the room doors. A quick count showed about fifty of them, all along the main corridor. There were none on the branching hallway. Trina walked over to one and tapped it lightly. As with all the other doors in the building, it was made of metal with a heavy latch. She studied the handle closely but dared not to touch it; it looked shiny, new, and silver.

Trina frowned and quickly checked the other doors. They, too, sported shiny, silver handles. "That's weird," she muttered to herself, running a hand through her short hair. Her eyes fell on the tiny doors. They looked old and un-tampered with, most likely safe to touch without being burned. Trina cast a glance over her shoulder at the discussion. They were debating splitting up but it seemed like the majority was vying to take the branching hallway. Still, it looked as though she had another moment to waste before they came to a decision.

Trina returned her attention to the tiny sheet of metal covering up the observation window. With careful fingers, she turned the latch and swung the little gate open. She had to stand on her toes to see through the window and instantly regretted it.

"RAZE!" she shrieked, back peddling rapidly from the miniature window. She smacked into the large man as he rushed toward her. The dark lycan steadied her while she blathered incoherently and pointed insistently at the door she had looked through. Lucian swept past them, reaching the doorway just a step a head of Vlad. Both men gasped as they peered into the lit room beyond.

"What is it?" Raze asked over the top of Trina. She had stopped talking but wasn't inclined to do more than bury her face in his chest, trembling. She gripped him so tightly that he doubted he would be able to move without picking her up.

"Do you think they're still… alive?" Aislyn was standing at Lucian's shoulder, peering into the room with a horrified expression on her face.

"If they are we should probably kill them now before they suffer further," Vlad replied grimly, fingering his gun.

"What is it?" Raze repeated, trying to get a glimpse into the room without succeeding. Lucian looked back as if just hearing the question. He was ashen.

"Would you believe that I don't know?" the alpha asked quietly. "Trina, come away so he can see."

The young lycan moved reluctantly, standing awkwardly by herself while Raze moved to stand by the door. As if sensing that the young woman was in no state to be alone, Aislyn vacated her position by the door to stand with Trina, her arm slung comfortingly around the younger woman's shoulders.

If Raze could pale, he would have as he surveyed the atrocity held within the room. There were bodies; at least six of them crammed into the miniscule quarters meant to hold two. Bodies of what, though, was the question. Many were missing limbs, a few hands or feet sat by themselves here and there. A couple of the bodies had their chest and abdominal cavities opened by what could only be described as extensive force. Entrails curled around the floor in long, grimy loops. Many of the forms looked gnawed on.

They were loosely human, although the skin varied between mottled green to a sickly redish brown. The pile of corpses looked slimy, as though they had mildewed instead of decomposed. Of those within, only one had a head that could be seen and it was human in the vaguest of senses. There were only large holes where the ears and nose should have been, lips pulled back to reveal rows of razor-like teeth. Its mouth was stained with the same dark blackish brown that covered everything else in the room: the blood of the other creatures. Nothing in the room moved or gave any indication of life.

"May I see?" Selene walked up behind Vlad. He nodded and stepped back to allow her a view. "Michael," she said after a moment, voice strained, motioning for him to join her at the window. "What do you see?"

The Hybrid slipped into the small circle that could fit around the opening. He licked his lips with a suddenly dry tongue. "They look a lot like Marcus…" he near whispered. "Some… some more like…" he made a gesture at his own face although he meant himself while transformed. The meaning was understood, though.

"Failed hybrids?" Vlad turned to Lucian. "You're the expert here."

Lucian merely shook his head slowly. "When one of my kind bites a vampire that does not contain Corvinus blood, they die. They do not transform."

Selene confirmed that. "The same is true on our side. If I were to bite Lucian right now, he would die, not become a hybrid."

"You're probably the best resource we have on genetic experimentation," Aislyn voiced from her spot beside Trina, looking pointedly at her father. "Any ideas?"

"Not without taking some samples but as intriguing as this is, we don't have time to worry about what the hell is going on here. I want my Lina back. We'll worry about these… things afterwards." Vlad quickly closed the flap over the window, locking it back into place.

"If they're truly part lycan, that would explain the silver on all the handles," Lucian said quietly as they moved away from the door. "Raze, Thomas. I want you two to check these other rooms, see if they hold the same thing." As the two moved to obey, Lucian walked to Trina and Aislyn. "Are you alright?" he asked his niece softly. She nodded a bit.

"I will be," she replied meekly. "I was not expecting to see anything, let alone, well, _that_." She motioned toward the room.

"Understandable." Of all his lycans, Trina was the least experienced in the brutality that could occur during war. Although what he had seen within the room was not uncommon of what the corpses used to look like back when weapons were blades and not guns, Trina had seen very little of that sort of injury in her short years. The beasts in the room were hideously maimed, and had most likely done it to one another in hunger, fear, or pure, unrestrained rage. It was enough to turn even a veteran's stomach.

Lucian glanced over his shoulder at the lycans as they returned to report. He listened grimly as they confirmed what was now suspected: this ward was a holding block for whatever those creatures were. "Any alive?" he asked next.

"Not that we could tell," Raze answered dully. "Like those ones," he waved a thick hand at the initial cell, "most of the occupants were torn into multiple pieces."

"Most likely by the other occupants before they died," Lucian growled, voicing his thoughts from a moment ago. "If we ever find who is responsible for this…" He let his words fade to silence, not elaborating on what exactly he wanted to do to the perpetrator. It was true enough that he had played God with humans in order to create Michael, but he had drawn the line at creating monsters when he knew the subject was not going to succeed. He always tested blood first and any humans who proved unsuitable were used to feed his pack, not to continue experimenting on. He had his morals, after all.

"So where do we go from here?" Trina asked quietly. Raze had returned to her side and she clutched his arm tightly as if afraid to let go. The large man made no outward sign of noticing.

"Given what we've just now found, I'm for splitting up," Aislyn said honestly. "We're all fully capable of managing ourselves in a smaller group. For what it's worth, at least half of us could manage going solo or in pairs if needed. The sooner we find my mother, the sooner we can get the hell out of this place." She paused as another groan sounded from over head, carried into the hallway by the ventilation system.

"You're sure they're all dead?" Selene asked touchily, gazing toward the nearest door.

"You're welcome to double check if it would suit Your Highness," Thomas grumbled. An elbow from another lycan and a sharp look from Lucian silenced him.

"They are dead," Raze rumbled blandly. "And if they are not, they cannot get out of the rooms. There is enough splatter from their bodies to indicate they were powerful. If they did not escape before, it is probably because they could not."

"So then what is making the moaning sound?" Michael questioned after another long, warbling groan.

"Again, I don't give a damn," Vlad interrupted. He surveyed the motley crew for a moment before coming to a decision. "We have a number of functioning phones on us." He jabbed a finger at his daughter. "Take half of them that way," he swung his arm toward the end of the main hallway. "I will take half that way." He pointed at the off-shooting doorway. "If you find _anything_ on par with _this_," the hand pointed at the doors, "Call me. Split them up, I don't care how."

Lucian took barely half a minute to look over his troops. "Raze, I want you with Vlad. Take Thomas, Romulus…" he thought for a moment then pointed out a few more. "Everyone else, with me and Aislyn. Trina, you're with us." His brows twitched dangerously when she looked about to protest but she seemed to think better of it and reluctantly let go of Raze's arm to shift into the king's group. "You and Dubas have proved yourselves a capable team; I want you to remain so." That just left the Viral and the Hybrid.

"I will go with Vlad. Michael can go with you," Selene said decisively. It was appreciated that they were willing to split up. That left at least one more powerful ally in each party.

"What if you encounter any more locked silver doors?" Aislyn asked before anyone moved toward their assigned directions.

"I will manage," Vlad returned gruffly. "At this point, I don't care if they hear me coming. They'll wish they never laid a finger on my Nightingale if this is the sort of asinine experimentation there are intending to do to her! Now group up and go!" Vlad barked. Without sparing more than half a glance back, the elder vampire took off down the side hallway.

Aislyn and Lucian lead their troop toward the door at the far end of the main hallway. Aislyn grabbed the latch, discovered it was unlocked, and pulled it open. Whatever was beyond Ward A, the proprietors of the building didn't care if anyone could go that direction; they only seemed to care if anyone could get _out _of the building.

The hallway beyond the second antechamber was nearly identical to Ward A, with the exception that the lights were out and it held two branching hallways that terminated in similar double-doors. They took only a moment to dig out torches they had under their jackets before continuing down the corridor. The group paused at the first fork in their hall, deciding their best course of action.

"Did we want to check the rooms?" Michael asked when they paused. A couple of the lycans did not look terribly enthused about that.

"Yes," Aislyn said after weighing the idea. "Mother may be in one of them, we don't know."

The ward turned out to be unoccupied. Aislyn wasn't sure if she felt relieved or upset over that. On one hand, she didn't have to worry about running into any potentially living monsters; on the other hand, her mother was still unaccounted for.

"We'll find her," Lucian murmured encouragingly in his mate's ear, squeezing her arm gently before turning back toward the division in their path. "Michael, Vander." The Hybrid and the lycan slid up next to their alpha. "I want you two to take this hallway. You have a phone?" Vander nodded and Lucian continued. "Check every door, every room you come across. Wrap your hands in something so you don't burn on the door handles. If there are too many hallways, mark where you've gone in case you have to backtrack. Understood?"

"Yes." Michael nodded grimly and looked at his newly assigned partner. Although they did not know each other well, they were familiar with one another from Michael's brief stay at the coven.

"Go," Lucian ordered then motioned for the rest to follow him further down the hall. They paused at the second branch and repeated the process of sending off Lucian's two remaining lycans. At least with a buddy system there was less chance of someone either getting lost, or killed.

"I hope we don't hit any more branches," Trina commented dryly as they made their way toward the far end of the hall. She cast an apprehensive look at Dubas, who strolled silently by her side. It was only the four of them left, now, and she wasn't sure she wanted to split up further. What was more, she was fairly certain that Lucian wouldn't want her to go off alone with an injured lycan. He may have trusted their ability, but Lucian was also practical enough to recognize potential failure when he saw it.

As they entered the next antechamber, Aislyn opening the doors to prevent her companions from scalding, their ears were met with more groaning. They lingered in the tiny room, listening intently to the echo. It was different. There was more than one voice sounding simultaneously, and it sounded a whole lot closer than any of the previous ones.

With uneasy looks, Aislyn opened the door into yet another corridor lined with doors. They moved into it cautiously, eyes moving rapidly in search of any occupants. The moment they walked through the doors, they were engulfed in a cacophony of groaning wails. Whatever was making the noise was in those rooms. The lights were on down the hall so they switched off their flashlights, pocketing them for later. Apart from the God-awful howls, the actual hallway was eerily empty.

Aislyn approached the first door. She raised her hand to grip the small window slat and wavered. Although she was fairly certain whatever lay beyond was _not _Lina, a small morbid curiosity fought with her better judgment to look into the room and find out what was making all the noise.

"If you don't open it, I will," Lucian told her firmly from her side. He met her eyes and motioned toward the opening encouragingly. "At least we will know what we could be up against."

Aislyn took a deep breath, nodded, and drew back the panel.

* * *

Vlad stumbled to an undignified halt so abruptly that only years of combat training kept Selene from smashing into his back. She looked in askance at him as the man started gyrating oddly in the hallway. She cast a quick look around but saw no one else nearby that could have caused the peculiar behavior in the vampire lord; they had already sent off all their other members to explore branching hallways. Then, in answer to her curious stare, Vlad managed to find his phone. Apparently, it had been on vibrate and he couldn't remember what pocket it had been in.

She listened quietly to the one sided conversation she was privy to, trying to catch the voice on the other end of the line. She was pretty sure it was Aislyn.

"_What_?" Vlad's voice exploded at the mouthpiece. His one word was quickly followed by a number of expletives in what Selene recognized as a really archaic form of Romanian. She didn't care what backcountry part of that country Vlad may have originally been from; Selene was fairly certain no one had reason to hex another man's goat anymore. At least, she was fairly certain that's what he said. Her Romanian wasn't the best.

"Those rotten… accusing _us_…" A few more rough curses were added in his native tongue before Vlad visibly calmed himself. "Whatever the hell is going on here, we need to keep looking for Lina. For now, just leave them be. They're locked away and no threat at the moment. Call the others, let them know in case they haven't run across any themselves. Call if you find your mother." Vlad pocketed his phone and turned his bloody gaze to Selene. She regarded him coolly, waiting for an explanation. She did not wait long.

"Dolls," he spat, ruffled. "They found Dolls."

"Dolls," Selene repeated flatly.

"The Slayers are in on the Dolls and on whatever the else abominations they're growing here," Vlad continued coarsely, his naturally passionate personality working himself into a fit. "They blamed us, accused us of being the culprits but it was _them_. Why the in known world would they be doing this? What purpose does it serve? And now the hybrid creatures?"

"It would explain why the Dolls have been so quiet lately. They're concentrating on something else."

"But why create what you've sworn yourself to destroy?" Vlad posed, throwing his hand out as if to indicate something, although it was a fairly useless gesture as there was nothing of significance to gesture at. Mostly, it was an outlet for the energy coursing through the angry vampire.

Selene tilted her head at the eccentric old immortal. "Things are not so black and white anymore," she replied softly. "I am effectively married to a man that is half my world, half Lucian's. Your daughter has chosen a full-blooded lycan. The Hunters and Slayers are cooperating for the first time in over a hundred years. Your Hunter wife has happily accepted her prey into her home."

Vlad looked annoyed for a minute. "I am aware of that," he said at length, although he managed to get a better grip on his overly expressed emotions. "Things have changed so quickly lately. You must forgive a doddering man his distrust of new ideas."

Selene managed a small smile that quickly faded. "If I can change after nearly six centuries…" she left the sentence with a shrug. "I do not disagree that the entirety of this complex is irritatingly mysterious. Let us just hope we can get some answers before we leave."

Vlad nodded, regarding her from behind his lashes. "I had not realized you were quite so aged," he admitted.

"I have aged well."

Vlad smirked. "When this is over, I would enjoy a talk with you one day. It is rare I meet people who can recall as much as I can. It's hard to speak to Lina about the past when she was not there." He sobered immediately at the mention of his wife.

"Let us keep looking," Selene said instead, slipping past him and heading down the hallway. She had taken two steps when a sound blared overhead, causing both vampires to gaze about wildly, weapons held at ready. Then, a curious sound was heard.

"What-" Selene started.

"It's… a baby," Vlad muttered, lowering his guns slightly. His eyes scanned the ceiling in their poorly lit corridor. He spotted the boxy speaker and pointed it out to Selene.

"That's strange-" Selene started to speak again but was abruptly cut off by a voice replacing that of the child's cry.

"Oh, Helena. I must say, you're turning into a large, disappointing liability." The vampires exchanged surprised expressions. "Just a few minutes ago I find that my precious guinea pig wasn't where I left her, and neither were you. I truly hope you're working on tracking her down. You had better be." Selene heard Vlad hiss Lina's name in a harsh undertone. "You have an hour to bring her to the cafeteria. If you fail…"

The unsettling sound of an infant's squall returned to the loud speaker with a vengeance. Vlad's teeth were bared, his fangs sharp. "Where the hell is the cafeteria?" he demanded.

Selene frowned. How would she know? The former Death Dealer started looking around the hallway they stood in. They were in another set of offices and examination rooms. She had noticed there were more signs in this part of the hospital indicating where things were. It had not been helpful before this point so she hadn't taken any particular note of them. Now, she searched nearly frantically to find a directional placard.

"Here," she said sharply, a few paces back from where they stood. She pointed at an old diagram etched into a metal plaque. Vlad hovered over her shoulder as she traced a line with her finger, indicating their intended course. She took a couple seconds to memorize the path then took off down the hall at a dead run, Vlad hot on her heels.

* * *

Lina jumped the last few stairs, landing with a soft thud next to Helena. The Slayer took hardly a second to get her bearings before tearing off down the hall toward where she knew the cafeteria was. Lina let her lead. After all, what did the Hunter know about the layout of the building?

As they ran, Lina vaguely noted short hallways that branched off to her left into another hall that most likely ran parallel to her own. There would obviously be more than one way into the cafeteria. Perhaps out of paranoia, Lina kept a sharp eye on the glimpses of the equivalent hallway she could see as they passed each short branch. Naopte might appear at any moment for all she knew.

It was a good thing Lina did so. As she barreled past one hallway in particular, she saw something that made her heart leap into her mouth. Her mind switched course and, without alerting Helena to the fact that she was going to change route, Lina took a sharp left into the very next perpendicular hallway. She exploded into the parallel hall like an iron ball out of a cannon, nearly tackling a tall, dark figure as it passed.

It took Vlad a moment to piece together what happened before he regained his balance enough to keep both himself and Lina upright. His own mind went blank of everything else that had happened as he registered just who it was that was clinging to him.

Lina nearly laughed as she received his fervent kisses, trying to reassure him between embraces that she was all right. She returned whatever managed to land on her lips but she was certain her cheeks, eyelids, and forehead received just as much moist attention from her obviously relieved husband. She finally managed to push him back half an arm's length.

He gazed down at her as if he could not quite believe she had suddenly materialized as she had. Running his hands continually through her hair to smooth it back, he let his gaze travel over her body, checking her over for any obvious injury. "Thank God you're all right," he murmured breathlessly before pulling her back into a rib-crushing hug.

"I'll be fine," she told him again firmly. "We have bigger things to worry about-"

"The Doll Maker!" Vlad exclaimed, cutting her off. "Lina, the Doll Maker has been using this building to-"

"Yes, I know," Lina interrupted in turn. "She's a vampire, Vlad, that goes by the name of Lady Naopte."

Vlad frowned. "Naopte? Lady Night?" He shook his head as if he didn't register the person as familiar.

"Yes. She's been making Dolls in an attempt to learn how to Day Walk. She was siphoning my blood for some reason, too, although I'm not sure how that would help-"

"The hybrids!" Vlad continued, breaking into her train of thought. "It must have something to do with those monsters-"

"The what?" Lina cut in.

"Enough!"

Both vampires looked sharply down the hall to where Selene stood. The Viral had gnashed her teeth in frustration while she waited for the reunited lovers to get on with it. When they started interposing one another, Selene had lost what little patience she had. She strode up to them purposefully then turned her attention to Lina.

"It's good to see you mostly unharmed," she started in a rushed formality. "If you two are quite done interrupting each other, I'll make an attempt to explain what is going on in as few _complete _sentences as possible. We found a number of torn apart creatures similar to Marcus and Michael in one of the wards here. This Doll Maker Naopte is up to something much deeper than mere zombies. I suspect your blood may have something to do with it although we won't know anything unless we can speak with her. According to your daughter, she and Lucian found a ward filled with still-animate Dolls."

Lina's lips thinned. "She also has a holding cell somewhere filled with humans. Most likely those are her major test subjects. This doesn't make very much sense."

"So we've come to understand," Selene said in agreement. "Now what is our next course of action?"

Lina started suddenly, remembering what she had been doing moments before seeing Vlad. "Helena!" she gasped. "We need to get to the cafeteria!"

"As much as I would love to take care of her," Vlad rumbled, "I think this Naopte is a larger threat at the moment."

"No! No, no, no." Lina waved her hands dismissively. "Helena's not the enemy."

"What?" Vlad blinked a couple times. "Last night I checked, Nightingale, she led an army against our coven and is responsible for the fact that we're now all displaced and at half our original number!"

Lina briefly glared up at her husband. She could see the anger creeping into his face at the thought of the Slayer. Then she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Listen," she said grimly, "I know this is unorthodox, but Helena is not the enemy. She's actually the reason I'm still alive right now. She has done horrible things to us lately but not because she has _wanted_ to."

Vlad's brows twitched together, his resentment replaced by confusion. "I do not believe I fully understand. There have been so many strange things since we've gotten here."

Selene breathed in sharply, bringing the Genetics' attention to her. She looked as though someone had just clicked a light bulb on over her head. "The child, the infant on the intercom."

"_Yes_," Lina confirmed emphatically. She turned abruptly to Vlad. "The baby is Helena's nephew. Everything the van Hellsings have been doing lately is because Naopte has been pulling the strings, and if we don't hurry Helena is going to run into Princess Psychopath by herself."

"Then you're going to need this." Vlad dug around under his trench for a moment, producing a lumping bundle.

"Animus!" Lina sighed in relief. "Help me get in on, then let's move!"

* * *

When the bizarre intercom announcement had come over the loud speakers, Aislyn and her crew had found themselves in a section of the complex that looked like the dormitories for resident doctors. They had made the same connection as Vlad that the strange voice was referring to Lina and made a simultaneous decision to make for the cafeteria. It took a surprisingly short amount of time to locate a direction board that pointed them down the correct course. Although Aislyn did not bother taking the time to phone her father, she was certain he was doing the same thing they were. She hoped everyone else in their raiding party had the same sense to follow the prompt from the woman with the screaming baby.

Aislyn took point as they thundered down the hallways, just in case they hit more silver doors. The section of hospital they were in, however, was not outfitted the same as the holding wards so they needn't have bothered taking that precaution. Regardless, Aislyn was moving so quickly the others would have had to press hard to get ahead of her. She was fueled by the urgency to find her mother.

It took longer than Aislyn would have wanted to reach a straight hall that terminated in yet another set of double doors. From the big, rectangular windows in the doors, they could see a large, lit area that was most likely the cafeteria. Without bothering to wait to see if anyone else would join them, Aislyn burst into the room.

"_You!"_ Aislyn drew her sword the moment she set foot beyond the doors. It was an immense space of old, grungy linoleum. Long rows of tables with benches sat in tidy rows, covered in an untold amount of dust. The entire left wall from where Aislyn had entered consisted of the kitchens and serving area. To the right were two more doors from other hallways. Straight ahead of her, looking bewildered at Aislyn's sudden appearance, was Helena.

The Slayer had entered the cafeteria mere moments before and had realized with surprise that Lina was not behind her. Bemused and slightly agitated, Helena gripped her hilt and cast her gaze around the room. As far as she could tell, she was the only occupant. She was about to turn around and go back to look for her odd companion when there was a crash from the opposite side. Helena spun to gape, wide-eyed, at a very familiar face.

With hardly more warning than a shift in weight, Aislyn launched herself at the platinum Slayer. Helena drew her own blade just in time to deflect Aislyn's cutting swing. Under attack, the human had little choice but to retaliate, muscle memory moving to accomplish a quick backhanded stroke.

The last time they had crossed swords, Aislyn had been severely injured. Helena felt a momentary panic as the vampress in front of her deflected her counter strike faster than a mortal would have been capable of moving. Only years of conditioning prevented Helena from being neatly sliced in two as Aislyn's blade swung up around and down in a diagonal slash.

"Stop this!" Helena snarled as she countered another swing, back peddling slightly in the face of Aislyn's ferocity. She cringed as the strength of Aislyn's swing jarred her bones but Helena stubbornly refused to give in, moving with increasing desperation to defend herself from Aislyn's onslaught. Much to Helena's dread, Aislyn made no reply and did not even seem to register that the Slayer had spoken. It was apparent that the vampire held Helena responsible – and Helena couldn't bring herself to blame Aislyn for it considering their unfriendly past – but Helena knew that she needed to somehow get through to Aislyn before the enraged immortal killed her.

"Your mother," Helena managed to blurt out between shortening breaths. She had been running full tilt throughout the institution and was rapidly losing what strength she had remaining. "She's alive!"

The corner of Aislyn's eye twitched as she aimed a biting blow at Helena's sword arm. The Slayer managed to twist mostly out of the way but gasped as the tip of Aislyn's silver blade nipped into her bicep.

"No thanks to you!" Aislyn spat suddenly, redirecting her motion in a circular downward sweep. Helena stumbled back to avoid it, tripping over the leg of a bench. She slid a short distance before scrambling to her feet. She deflected one blow, and dodged to the side to avoid another. Helena felt a sharp sting as Aislyn's sword nicked her ribs.

"We shouldn't be fighting," Helena tried again, shuffling back a few paces to give herself time to re-grip her sword.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Aislyn demanded, not giving Helena more than a couple seconds before continuing her barrage. "Suddenly had a change of heart? Decided you've killed enough of my family?" The blade flashed again and Helena grunted, one hand gripping her stomach in an attempt to staunch the wound. It wasn't deep, but Helena was only human. In the brief space of time it took Helena to flinch from her gash, she felt her hand jerk to one side. There was a clatter somewhere nearby and the Slayer stared in muted horror at the empty space her sword had occupied seconds ago.

The world slowed around her. She saw Aislyn smirk and move with calculated purpose and, for a fleeting moment, Helena accepted what fate was handing her. Helena's eyes closed and she felt an odd sense of relief mixed with the strange approval. If she was going to die, at least she would die in combat with an honored foe.

The killing blow never landed. There was a movement faster than the eye could trace, then the sound of metal clashing against metal. Helena's eyes snapped open in shock. Standing resolutely between herself and Aislyn was Lina, the Animus blade gleaming in her hand, a look of condemnation on her face fierce enough to quell even the most stalwart person.

If the circumstances weren't so dire, Aislyn's expression would have been comical. Surprise, abashment, and joy tried to crowd onto the vampire's face all at once. She sheathed her sword without another thought to the injured Slayer and practically threw herself into her mother's arms.

There was more movement from around Helena as Vlad and Selene came into her vision. From somewhere beyond Aislyn, Helena made out the forms of Aislyn's lycan companions. No one had bothered to interfere before Lina arrived, figuring Aislyn's fight against Helena was something the young vampire needed to do on her own.

Now that the matron had appeared, everyone rushed forward. Someone – Helena could not see who – hoisted her upright and deposited her on a bench.

"Mother, what is going on here?" Aislyn was demanding, waving a hand at the muddled Slayer.

"Helena and I have come to an agreement," Lina explained shortly. "Due to extenuating circumstances regarding the crying babe I'm sure you've heard, we have decided our best interests lie along the same path. There was no reason to continue fighting each other when we have a much larger, more dangerous enemy in common."

"The Doll Maker." Aislyn pulled her lips back from her fangs.

"Exactly." Lina nodded.

"So who is the child?" Lucian spoke next, coming up beside Aislyn. He placed a calming hand on her shoulder and she sent him a grateful look for his presence.

"My nephew," Helena muttered from her seat, leaning back against the edge of the table. She was starting to feel lightheaded. Slowly, she pulled her arm away from her middle and gazed down at the blood that soaked her shirt front. "Naopte took him from my sister…"

"Aislyn." Lina jerked her head toward the Slayer. "She saved my life earlier," the Hunter added when Aislyn hesitated. Reluctantly, Aislyn moved to crouch near Helena. She may agree to not kill the woman, but that did not mean she had to be happy about helping her. After all, during their first encounter, the blond had speared Aislyn's leg with a gigantic harpoon. They were not exactly on good terms.

"It won't help the blood you've lost," Aislyn told Helena stiffly as she drew a few glowing symbols over the wounded area. "But it should keep you from losing any more, assuming you don't do something stupid and get injured again." Her words were met with a glare but Helena did not bother to warrant Aislyn's comments with a verbal reply.

"What do we do now?" Trina asked once Aislyn stood from her task. Her concern was evident in both her voice and her stance. She looked like a loud noise would do her in.

"We wait," Lina spoke firmly, hands on her hips. Animus had vanished back to wherever it was housed.

"We got what we came for," Dubas griped with a gesture toward Lina. He bit off whatever he was about to say next when Lucian sent the lanky wolf a sharp glance.

"Not until we get the child." Lina squared her shoulders in an unconscious move learned from years of defending her right to lead the coven. "I made an agreement with Helena. My life for the life of the babe. We wait for Naopte to arrive."

"Plus," Vlad added in a musing tone, "Naopte is the Doll Maker. I think we have little choice but to destroy her while we have the chance."

"We would be fools to leave while this opportunity presents itself. Hopefully, the others will take the intercom announcement as we have and start showing up soon." Lucian leaned against the edge of one of the tables, folding his arms. "In the meantime, I suggest van Hellsing starts enlightening us as to what the hell is going on here."

Suggestion or not, his tone was not one to be argued with. With a deep sigh, Helena forced herself to sit up slightly, inspecting the sealed wound with ginger fingers as she talked. "A few months ago, I was out with my sister." Her tone was bitter. "It was the middle of the day, what threat could there have been?"

The immortals started finding places to perch while she talked, curious despite themselves. As intent as they were on the Slayer, however, everyone kept one eye on the multiple doorways leading into the cafeteria. No one was stupid enough to leave their backs unguarded in Brentwood.

"We were ambushed by what I believe you call the Dolls; Day-Walking zombies of some sort. They were not strong but they were many." Helena closed her eyes for a moment, exhaling a deep breath. "Virginia is not a fighter, she never has been. We were overpowered. I.." she hesitated then let her forehead drop into her hand, leaving a blood smear where it touched. "They turned to dust whenever I tried to kill one. I started to suffocate and I blacked out."

Suddenly, Helena's head snapped up and she slammed her fist onto the tabletop beside her, growling out in incoherent frustration. "Fucking _things_ took him! When I came to, Virginia was hysterical and half the bloody family was about ready to dunk me in the river to get me awake." She seethed visibly for a moment. "We looked everywhere, contacted all the allies. Everyone thought it was you but finding you?" Helena scoffed in Lina's direction. "Without an 'in' you're about as easy to find as a cure for cancer."

"Mayson," Lucian growled from his seat. Helena glanced over at him and nodded once to confirm his suspicions.

"Mayson, yes, but not yet." She took another deep breath before plowing on with her story. "A couple weeks passed and we found no clue. We knew this was the fault of someone in your world so alerting the authorities was a ridiculous idea. We had little choice but to keep looking on our own. I… convinced the Hunters to help us look. Some of them seemed to believe you wouldn't stoop to that level considering we were on a temporary unspoken truce and had no reason to start killing one another off again. Well, besides for the sake of tradition."

The vampires nodded slightly in understanding. "We were too busy dealing with the damn Dolls to worry about what you were up to," Lina confirmed. "Although you made it clear you thought we were making them."

"Yes," Helena muttered. "But before Chase was abducted, what else could I have thought?"

"That's neither here, nor there," Lucian interjected evenly. "Everyone in this room is now aware that no one in this room is responsible. Continue?"

Helena nodded and shifted uncomfortably. Aislyn's magic may have been effective at keeping her from bleeding to death but her wound was still painful. "It was November when we finally heard word of Chase. A woman approached me on patrol one night, although I could not see her face despite how hard I tried. She told me she knew where he was and that if I wanted him back I would be completely cooperative." Helena threw her hands up. "What else could I do? It was the first we had heard of my nephew in weeks."

"You agreed," Vlad said plainly.

"I agreed." Her face mirrored the disgust in her voice. "My orders were pretty simple on paper but the reality was difficult. In the most general of terms, she wanted to know the location of your coven. More specifically, she wanted that sword of yours and blood." Helena jabbed a finger at the arm brace Lina now wore. Her icy eyes turned next to Selene. "Your arrival was an added bonus, drawing everyone out on Christmas. I was certain Aislyn's body would gain me my nephew."

Aislyn's eyes narrowed but she said nothing. Despite everything Helena had been put through to bring her to this day, they would never be on good terms. Aislyn certainly wouldn't expect Helena to readily forgive the vampire should the roles have been reversed.

"Christmas also brought about the confirmation that your two races were working together," Helena continued, ignoring how Aislyn was starting daggers at her. "Some little punk somehow managed to find my organization and started insisting that he and his friends saw you gallivanting around in public." Helena half smirked at Aislyn and Lucian. "Naturally, his tale was wrought with the danger he had been in and how he had fought his way out single-handedly."

Lucian grunted in the back of his throat. "More like pissed himself and ran away," he mumbled but said nothing more.

"With the knowledge that you were working together," Helena continued, "it occurred to us that we needed to find someone to show us where you were, given enough… encouragement. To our surprise, it was one of yours that initiated the contact. This Mayson of yours is a complete bastard, by the way. I highly recommend you kill him should we run into him anytime soon."

"I assure you, it's on my To-Do list," Lucian replied darkly. His tone sent shivers down Helena's spine, although she did not show it. Instead, she turned her attention back to the main group.

"The Hunters alerted me to the meeting on New Years and they were easy enough to bribe into not going. Meanwhile, Mayson orchestrated the kidnapping of your man and the attack on your coven. His men guard this building as well while he sucks up to Naopte. He follows her orders, not mine."

"Out of curiosity, seeing as this deals directly with my kingdom, what was he promised for helping?" Lucian shifted slightly. His face was neutral but there was an anger wafting off him that even Helena could sense.

"I offered him immunity from the Hunters when he first sought out an arrangement." Helena's lips thinned. "I'm not sure what Naopte offered him, but it was obviously a better deal since he's her lap dog now." If she noticed the curl in Lucian's lip, she did not mention it and instead focused her attention on Lina.

"I've told you already her intentions as far as I know them but I have to agree that everything seems deeper that just wanting to be a Day-Walker. The purpose of the Dolls, I can only guess at."

"And her bizarre, dead hybrids?" Aislyn chipped in, brows narrow.

It was Helena's turn to look puzzled. "Her what?"

"Yes, I'd like to know more about that, too," Lina added. "Selene outlined what you found in that ward."

Helena slowly shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The room fell silent for a few heartbeats while everyone glanced at everyone else. Then, gradually, Vlad explained what they had found earlier that evening. Helena was already a pale woman but she was nearly as ashen as her hair when he had finished describing the state of the corpses.

"Oh, God…" The Slayer put a hand to her head as she gawked at Vlad. "I didn't know. I swear I did not know."

"No one is blaming you," Lina said gently. "Something tells me that, even without your cooperation, this bitch would still be doing what she's doing."

"That's a fairly astute deduction. It was just so much faster to have the Slayers on my side."

The party was on their feet in an instant, eyes darting around the room at the sound of the feminine voice. Where it came from, however, no one could directly tell. It appeared as though the room was empty besides themselves. Weapons previous put away were drawn and, in a few quick motions, silent orders were given to check every corner of the cafeteria.

There was a laugh that would have rivaled maniacal. "Search though you may, you shant find me!"

"Then make it easy on us and come out of your dark hole," Helena snapped, struggling to her feet as the others hastened to search the attached kitchen and look under tables.

"Oh yes," the voice murmured into the room, the tone suggesting she had just remembered something important. "I nearly forgot about you with all the excitement going on tonight. You need to be dealt with. Such a disappointment. I had expected Abraham's descendent to be more reliable. Turning sides, indeed!" The disembodied voice tutted scornfully.

"Where is Chase?" Helena demanded, ignoring the derisive voice's comments. She stared about her with wide eyes as though that would help spot the unseen woman.

"Oh, he's in good hands," Naopte replied from wherever she was. "A much more faithful servant is taking care of him."

A door opened and the room was filled with the squall of the babe. Eyes turned to the sound. A dangerous growl started low in Lucian's chest at the sight of the mutinous Mayson. Behind the treacherous lycan stood a few of the lesser Alpha's pack. Mayson shifted slightly, holding something at arm's length from his body. The bundle wriggled and screeched. In the same instance, the other doors to the cafeteria banged open, revealing a slow moving, but equally unwelcomed mass of Dolls. Without waiting to see what Mayson was about to do, the small party raced to try and staunch an incoming press of zombie-like beings.

"Chase!" Helena gasped, moving automatically toward the lycans in the same instance Lucian did. He would let the others deal with the Dolls; he had a lycan to maim.

Ignoring her aching wound, Helena charged toward Mayson, disregarding the fact that she had been disarmed earlier. The look of murder on her face spoke of her determination to tear him limb from limb with her bare hands if she had to. Then the world stopped turning and Helena watched in horrified slow motion as Mayson pulled his arm back, then whipped it forward. The bawling of the child ceased momentarily as the bundle left the lycan's hand.

Helena spun in mid stride, turning just in time to see a newly appeared figure snatch Chase out of the air. Standing on a table some twenty paces away, lips curled into something that could only vaguely be described as a smile, was Naopte. She held the baby aloft, staring coldly down at Helena.

"You have served your purpose and I find I no longer have need of you," Naopte murmured, her voice as hard as her eyes. "And, thus, I have no need of this." Without warning, the vampress pitched the bundle once more, straight at the nearest wall. Helena shrieked and made as if to try and catch him. Before she had taken even half a step in the direction Chase flew, she felt herself lifted bodily from the ground. Naopte's speed was obviously much greater.

Helena scrabbling madly at Naopte's hands as the vampress hoisted her by the neck. With a look of utter disgust, Naopte shook her like a rag doll, then threw the Slayer unceremoniously across the room. Helena flew into a set of tables with a crash hard enough to make a normal person cringe and did not rise from where she lay.

Naopte made as if to move toward Helena, most likely to check whether the Slayer was still alive or not, when the renewed squalling of a baby stopped her steps. A baffled expression flittered across her face that would have been amusing under a different set of circumstances. Spinning, the dark lady looked at the man holding the baby, not bothering to hide her shock. She obviously had not counted on Lucian being considerably faster than a standard person, or on the fact that he was willing to save an unknown human child.

The sound of scuffling broke out near Mayson's lycans and the deserting werewolf leader quickly scrambled into the cafeteria. With excellent timing, Raze appeared in the doorway, followed closely by Michael, Vander, Thomas, and Romulus. The bodies of the traitorous lycans dropped to the ground and were effectively trampled by the incoming lycans. Behind the newcomers came the rest of Lucian's pack. Apparently, they had understood the significance of the intercom announcement and had all met up on the way.

Raze clearly noticed Lucian was otherwise occupied and snapped orders to the others to aid the vampires with the influx of Dolls. The large lycan then launched himself toward Mayson, eyes blacking at the sight of the coward that was attempting to hide behind a table.

Seeing that Raze had things under control, Lucian allowed himself to focus completely on the mad woman that was rapidly approaching him. Slightly annoyed at the writhing child clutched to his chest, Lucian did his best to ignore the piercing scream the baby emitted. If it was grating to a human's ears, it was ten times that to a lycan's.

Naopte snarled at the lycan king, pulling a silver-colored gun from under her long coat. Her motion, although quick, was not fast enough to prevent Lucian from seeing her intention. He dodged to one side as the bullet whizzed passed his body, embedding itself in the wall behind him. With brisk movements, the wolf hopped across tabletops toward the far side of the cafeteria where the Dolls were swiftly turning into piles of ash. He landed with a soft 'fwump' next to Trina.

"Hold this," he commanded, shoving the baby at the bewildered young woman. She fumbled for a few seconds before managing to get a firm grip on the bundle of human infant. "Stay out of trouble," he added with a pointed look at a fresh surge of Dolls.

Trina nodded and, after a brief glance around, sprinted into the dark kitchens, away from the fray.

Satisfied, Lucian returned his attention to the vampress. She had vanished but he was not fooled. He took a deep breath, inhaling through his nose. He picked up multiple familiar and unfamiliar scents. Brain working instinctively, he categorized each smell until he found the one he was looking for. Then, eyes starting to milk over, he followed it. She was still in the room: that much he could tell.

The click of a gun alerted him to the attack before he had fully pinpointed her location. Dropping flat, Lucian avoided the bullet that passed where his head had been moments ago. He wasn't terribly concerned about being shot – he doubted she had silver nitrate bullets – but having to expel bullets would be inconvenient given the current events.

A second after he hit the ground, Lucian launched himself at the space the bullet had come from. He felt a surge of satisfaction as he collided with something invisible and solid. There was a surprised 'oof' and a table in the distance slid back as something landed against it. She did not, however, become any more visible.

Irritated at his inability to physically see her, Lucian took another series of sniffs, tracking her movement. He twisted to avoid another bullet and felt it graze his bicep. It was not silver. He smirked.

The right hook caught him off guard and he cursed himself for letting his awareness drop. Turning, he lashed a clawed hand out into nothingness. He brought his hand back and barely noted the red now staining his fingers. What was more important was the trail of drips that dotted the linoleum as Naopte tried to back away. Her voice spat out a series of curses in Romanian.

As tempted as Lucian was to return the sentiment, he held his tongue and advanced on the smell of fresh blood and, oddly enough, lilacs. Her scent was very opposed to her personality but it was distinct enough that he had little trouble tracking her now that she was wounded.

"You are losing," Lucian commented idly as he followed her trail of blood. "I would suggest giving up."

He was rewarded with another gunshot that was easily avoided. From behind him, Lucian could hear that fewer Dolls were showing up. Somewhere nearby, Raze was disposing of Mayson's body in the most painful way possible. Lucian felt slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to personally deal with the traitor, but he was glad Raze was taking care of things for him.

The space in front of the lycan king swirled suddenly as Naopte's cloaking failed. She stood with her back to a pile of tables, slightly hunched over her right side as she attempted to staunch the blood flow from the claw gashes. She looked apprehensively at the lycan then her eyes flicked to one side, toward the doors the Dolls had come in. The major threat neutralized, the main party was coming over to inspect the Doll Maker.

"Now," Lina started coldly, Animus held firmly in her hand. She leveled the point at Naopte. "Tell us what the hell all this is about and I'll consider being merciful."

Naopte spat at Lina, although the sputum fell short by a good length.

"Oh, come now, Naopte," Lina continued disdainfully. "All evil overlords enjoy explaining to the heros all about their devious plots. Spill it."

The inky-haired woman turned her nose up at Lina for a moment before glancing at the rest of the assembled crew. Her eyes lingered on Aislyn before turning fully to Vlad. "Blame him," she said shortly before gripping her side a bit more firmly.

Eyebrows were raised and Vlad merely shrugged, puzzled.

"Oh, come on!" Naopte snapped, attempting to stand straight. She failed and slouched again. "Don't tell me you have no idea…" Disbelief flittered across the woman's face as she stared hard at a still confused Vlad. "Have you forgotten?"

"You had better start talking sense," Lucian supplied dryly. "Lina looks ready to murder both you and her husband."

"Husband?" Naopte laughed suddenly, mirthlessly. "By what law?"

Lina's eyebrows rose fractionally. "The power invested in the representative of the English court of law…" Her eyes narrowed. "What does it matter to you?"

"Chh," Naopte scoffed. "Well, won't you feel stupid to know all this time it's been quite a farce. Your little bastard of a daughter-"

Lucian snarled, cutting her off momentarily. She merely smirked at him before turning her eyes back to the vampires.

"Vlad is already married," Naopte continued darkly.

"I was before, yes, but the 'death do us part' clause is fairly self-explanatory," Vlad murmured.

The vampress shrieked suddenly, startling the group. She stared hard at Vlad, eyes nearly bulging from her sockets. The once calm and calculating woman appeared as though a cornered animal, behavior flipping so rapidly that any question of her sanity was answered with a firm 'none at all.' Only the point of Lina's sword and her heavily bleeding wound prevented her from launching herself at the tall, ancient vampire.

Very slowly, as a flame flickers to life on a candle, Vlad's face went lax. He tilted his head to one side, then to the other. Finally, his brows twitched together, perplexed, a hand coming to rest on the side of his face. "It cannot…" he started hesitantly.

"Well?" Naopte demanded, baring her teeth at him.

"You… dyed your hair?" he said meekly.

She stared at him in skepticism. "Nearly three hundred years and that's all you have to say to me?" she cried. "You abandon me, leave me for dead, and all you have to say is you've noticed I dyed my hair?"

"Vlad, what's going on?" Lina questioned darkly, eyes not leaving Naopte.

He did not answer her directly but addressed Naopte. "I did not abandon you," he snarled. "You were dead."

"Do I look dead to you?" she returned harshly.

"You were nearly a pile of ash!"

"You didn't even bother to come back and check on me!" Naopte was working herself into a frenzy but remained at bay, keeping an eye on Lina's blade.

For a moment, Vlad threw his hands up helplessly. "Why didn't you try and find me?" he returned. "This can go both ways, Ilona!"

"Ilona?" Lina started, glancing between Vlad and Naopte.

"Yes," Naopte said stiffly, again attempting to strand straight. She grimaced but managed to remain upright.

"You may have been her once," Vlad rumbled, "but I don't recognize Ilona in you any longer. She never would have done what you have done." He shifted slightly toward Lina, placing a hand on her shoulder. Whether he thought he needed to comfort Lina, or that he needed the comfort himself, was unclear. She did not shrug him off.

"What other choice did I have?" she demanded then, squaring her shoulders.

"There are plenty of options besides…" Lina waved a hand around to indicate the asylum. "What conceivable reason could you have to think that this was the only path?"

Naopte coughed slightly, one hand gripping her side more firmly. She sent a glare toward Lina, lips curling in distaste. "I had no choice," she repeated. "My vengeance must be had. The wrongs against me must be corrected."

"Vengeance? Against whom?" Vlad questioned. The others exchanged looks but remained silent. The peculiar family drama playing out was not something they dared interrupt.

"Against human kind; against the ones that wronged me." Her dark eyes hardened. "Against _you_ for leaving me for dead, Vlad." She shuddered then, although from what the onlookers could not tell. Perhaps an old, haunting memory.

"If I had known," he started to say. She cut him off with a hoarse laugh.

"Save it for someone who cares," Naopte hissed. "I got over you a long time ago, as I notice you've well forgotten me. My army is nearly perfected. Very soon I will launch this wonderful revenge against those horrible creatures that sought to doom me." She jabbed her finger toward a wall as if to indicate the outside world.

"Do you forget that you were once human?" Vlad barked, brows narrowing.

"It has been too long to consider myself even on the same plane as them," she retorted darkly. "All I did was help them and they tied me to a stake, lit me on fire!" Naopte swayed on her feet momentarily but regained her balance. "They deserve what is coming to them, just as you deserve what I have done to you."

"We've killed your pets," Aislyn interjected with a jerk of her thumb toward the piles of dust. "You've lost."

The old vampress turned her eyes to the young one. If contempt could kill, Aislyn would have dropped dead. "Do you really think this is the only place I would hide my army?" Naopte laughed. "As we speak, my creatures are poised to attack, just awaiting my order. Parliament will fall, the kingdom will falter. Chaos will reign!" She chortled almost to herself.

Vlad slowly shook his head in doubt. Any speck of sanity had left Naopte's eyes while she spoke. "You act as though you are going to be able to call the attack."

"Of course I will!" The laughter took her again.

"That's assuming you'll get out of here in one piece," Lina growled. "I have no reason to let you live after what you tried to do to me."

Naopte paused in her mirth, eyebrows raised incredulously. "Oh, you're not going to kill me," she murmured.

"What makes you so sure?" Vlad pressed. "You are not the woman I knew. You have slaughtered innocents for a demented purpose. You have created abominations without considering the moral consequences. And you have pitted others against my very coven in an attempt to do God knows what. You have even killed your son's wife."

Naopte tilted her head to one side, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. She looked completely un-phased by anything he had said. "Even though it has been so long, I am still your wife," she purred at Vlad. "You don't have it in you to kill me."

"But I sure as fuck do!"

Shock registered on Naopte's features for a split second as the sound of metal on flesh rang across the suddenly silent cafeteria. She gurgled, hands moving to grip the length of steel that had emerged below her chin. Then, with a sick, metallic _shk_, she slid forward limply off the end of the sword. Standing behind her with eyes cold as ice, chest heaving with the effort, stood Helena. Her chin was stained with blood; her limbs trembled from exertion.

Despite her obvious injuries, the Slayer lifted the holy blade point down in front of her body. "In nomine Patris," she murmured into the still room, voice eerily hallow, "et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." The point of Abraham's sword drove downward with a force fueled by Helena's intense hatred, burying itself through Naopte's back and through her heart.

No one moved; they hardly dared to breathe. The spell was broken by a suddenly insistent wail. Helena's head whipped around as she stared at the tiny lycan woman emerging from the kitchens, the baby clutched tightly to her chest. Helena had not seen Lucian catch him before she had blacked out.

Without a word, the Slayer stumbled toward Trina, arms outstretched to receive the child. Trina handed him over readily, back peddling once her load was passed, not sure how to react to the unexpected hysterically sobbing woman that crumpled to the ground at her feet.

Then Lina was kneeling beside Helena, draping Vlad's trench over the woman's shoulders. Nearby, Lucian addressed his lycans in a hushed undertone while Trina flung herself at a bloody, but whole Raze. Aislyn crouched with her father to examine Naopte's body, a comforting hand on his arm as he gazed blankly at the shell of his former wife. She nodded at him to indicate Ilona was, in all reality, truly dead this time. Above the hush rang out the sound of the infant screaming his indignity about the entire situation.

* * *

Vlad looked up from the box he set on the tailgate of the large moving van as the fair-haired woman climbed awkwardly out of the back seat of a black car that had just pulled up nearby. He raised his brow at her in question as a lycan snagged the box to take it further into the truck.

"One of my patrols found another one of her holding pens," Helena announced in a low murmur as she approached. She leaned heavily on a pair of metal crutches. Gingerly, she set the weight of her plaster-covered leg down onto the ground. "Nothing was living but they did clean up the mess left behind."

The vampire lord sighed and nodded. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead with it. It may have still been late winter, but the sun made him perspire something fierce regardless of the temperature. "Your assistance has been appreciated."

Helena shrugged as best she could without losing her precarious balance. "I swore our aid in eliminating whatever that psychopath left behind. It is the least I can do…" Helena's voice failed her and she looked away as if intensely interested in the tires of the moving van. Vlad did not acknowledge her lapse in composure.

"Almost all packed?" she asked once she had managed to gather herself. It was perhaps a bit weak, but Vlad humored her attempt at changing the topic.

"Yes. Just a few more things. This should be the last truck." They stood in an awkward silence for a moment longer before they were interrupted by Lina.

"You know, Aislyn could very well fix that," the matron said pointedly, motioning at Helena's leg.

"I'll manage," Helena replied stiffly. "I'd rather not lend my body to her, if that is all the same to you."

"Suit yourself." Lina shrugged then handed her box off to an awaiting lycan on the truck tailgate. "Hey, I don't suppose you want to buy a half-torched gated community, do you?"

Helena allowed a smirk to escape before clamping down on it. "I think I'll stick to my own home, thank you."

A movement nearby caught the attention of the small group and the three glanced over to see Trina timidly approaching. "Ah," she said by way of greeting.

"Yes?" Vlad asked after a minute of Trina looking about ready to bolt.

"I was just going to ask," she murmured, looking at Helena, "How is Chase?"

"Doing well. Thank God he is too young to really remember." Helena looked curiously at the small she-lycan. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh! Well…" Trina waved a hand in a failing attempt to be nonchalant. "We had a good conversation in the kitchen and all that. Babies! You know…" She tinged pink.

Perplexed, Helena cast a side-long look at Lina. The vampress smirked. "Trina likes the idea of having children," the older woman explained as the lycan turned a deeper shade of fuchsia. "I think she's hoping Raze will finally get around to sticking a flag in her and claim her as his soon so she can get started."

Trina looked about ready to faint, then turned from red to green as someone behind Lina choked on a sputtering cough. The female lycan turned and fled as the vampires raised their eyebrows at Lucian.

"What?" Lina asked innocently. "I thought you had already given him permission to court her."

"I did," Lucian wheezed as Aislyn thumped him heartily on the back. "I just wasn't expecting that look on her face."

"Choked on his own spit," Aislyn supplied in a helpful tone. She eyed Helena distrustfully but said managed a polite greeting despite herself. Helena returned it with a short, if courteous, response.

"Anyway," Helena continued, rocking on her crutches a bit. "I realize you cannot tell me your new location. I certainly wouldn't if I were you. But we do need to remain in contact if we're going to work in concert to clean up Naopte's mess."

"I'll give you my cell number," Lina offered, digging into her pocket to produce her new phone. "You can give me yours. We have unlimited texting." Helena nodded her consent and dug into her own pocket while the others wandered back into the manor house to get the last of the boxes.

**Epilogue**

Lucian gazed out over the countryside, head tilted back to catch the warm, Spring-time breeze that tugged playfully at his loose hair. The sun was nearly at its zenith and it would soon be time. May had blossomed over the English countryside like a garden erupting after a long sleepy winter. From his view point on the roof of the estate, he could see his pack mingling with the vampires some stories below. They were moving chairs, attaching ribbons, and generally making merry.

It had been four months since the events in Brentwood had come to pass. Although it had become less frequent, his lycans, Vlad's vampires, and Helena's combined force of Hunters and Slayers still uncovered the occasional nest of deceased experiments. Nothing was ever found alive; the Dolls had a very short time before they decomposed while the mutated hybrid-type creatures all appeared to be complete and utter failures. Still, they worried that somewhere Naopte's forces lurked. No one let their guard down for long.

Today, however, was a day when Lucian felt he could relax. With a sigh, he let his eyes wander of the rest of the ground that he could see, taking in the green of the lawn, the vibrancy of the flower garden, and the smells of fresh growing plants.

It had been a surprise to Lucian when Vlad announced they would be moving to the family's country home. The lycan had not realized Vlad owned more than the complex. It was a considerably large house – almost a castle, really – that sat on a good portion of uncultivated, rural landscape. Their nearest neighbor was at least half an hour's drive away, and it was large enough to accommodate the remainder of the coven (although their numbers had been severely crippled by the late winter attack on the complex, a number of Vlad's vampires had emerged from hiding shortly after Brentwood) as well as his immediate pack, which he was pleased to discover would continue to include Michael and Selene.

The estate was also an ideal location for Lina's perfectly organized wedding plans.

Lucian looked down again at the troop of immortals being roped into lining up chairs. He easily spotted Raze amongst the troops and smiled in honest affection. It had not taken long after the move for the large man to finally stake his claim on the king's niece. As miss-matched as they seemed, both Raze and Trina were too happy to notice the amused smiles sent their direction whenever they were together.

A form in black moved from the house to join the group at the chairs. Lucian felt a slight pang of pity at the sight of Nagire. Within a few days he had not only lost his wife but his mother. Again. No one felt right keeping the identity of Naopte from the man and Vlad had taken him aside upon their arrival at Luka's coven. No one saw Nagire for days afterwards. There were rumors he was going to take off after the wedding; travel the world as he did when he was young. Lucian had an unsettling feeling they would not meet again once the vampire had taken his leave.

The wind shifted, bringing with it a strong smell of apples and cinnamon. Lucian jerked his head around to gaze at Aislyn as she picked her way across the tiles toward him. As she sat down next to him, he smiled a welcome and shifted to allow her to slide in front of him. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her back against his chest, resting his chin on her shoulder, his cheek pressed to her's.

"This is unorthodox," he murmured in good humor. "I thought it was bad luck to see your groom before the wedding."

Aislyn grinned and shrugged slightly, feeling the weight of his chin on her shoulder. "I actually had something I wanted to speak with you about."

"You're right. Let's elope."

They chuckled together a moment before Aislyn sighed and leaned back against his solid chest. He nuzzled her neck gently. "Shouldn't you be getting dressed?" he asked into her skin. "Or undressed?" His hand slipped up to cup a breast through the fabric of her shirt.

"Behave," she warned good-naturedly, although she didn't make any move to shoo his wandering hands away. If anything she shifted slightly to allow him better access.

He smiled into her neck and nipped at her lightly. Her very presence was still intoxicating. Lucian breathed deeply, taking in her scent along with the smells around him. In that moment, he could forget about the strife that had led him to this point in his life. He could ignore the still lingering threat of Naopte's insanity. He could completely lose himself in the perfect moment they had created on the rooftop. Nothing could possibly make his day any better than it was at that very instant.

"Lucian?" Aislyn murmured when their silence had stretched itself into an almost sleepy quality.

"Hm?" he hummed, kissing her ear.

"I'm pregnant."

* * *

**_Fin_**


End file.
